Telluride Regional Airport (KTEX) clarifies marijuana rules: Marijuana has been a tricky issue at airports across Colorado

The Telluride Regional Airport Authority has decided to handle the issue of marijuana at the airport with an advisement to passengers.

The board voted at its March meeting to install signs at TEX that advise anyone boarding flights that they risk prosecution if they enter federal airspace with marijuana. The new warning signs will be placed in various locations at the airport.

Sales and possession of retail marijuana might be legal in Telluride, but marijuana is still federally illegal, which puts TEX in a tough position. According to TEX Board Chairman Jon Dwight, the board is attempting to walk a fine line between conflicting federal and state laws.

“We’re respecting Colorado state law; you can legally possess marijuana, but once you leave the airport by air, you’re subject to federal law,” Dwight said. “Once flights are in air, you’re in federal airspace. There’s been no direction yet by the [Federal Aviation Administration] or the Department of Transportation, so we’ll wait to see what direction they give airports in states where they’ve legalized marijuana.”

According to the board’s approved motion, the new signs will read: “While the possession/use of marijuana is legal in Colorado, it is illegal in federal airspace under the Controlled Substance Act. If you are departing this airport by air, you will be entering federal airspace.”

Dwight said he thinks the signs will be helpful, especially for people traveling within Colorado.

“A lot of people don’t equate that if you take off from Telluride and just fly to Denver [that they are breaking the law],” Dwight said. “Some think ‘I’m still OK.’ Well, they’re not, because it is still illegal in federal airspace.”

Along with the new signs, the board also said the airport needs to update its employee manual to address the new Colorado laws and how they apply to airport staff. The handbook updates will be completed with an attorney’s oversight but, in general, Dwight said TEX is not interested if people are in possession of marijuana on the premises. However, if anyone is under the influence of marijuana at the airport, it’s similar to if they were drunk.

“It has to be looked at just as alcohol is,” Dwight said. “Just like if someone was drunk in the terminal, we’d have to deal with it in a [consistent] manner.”

Several airports around Colorado have been tacklingh the issue of marijuana, coming up with different solutions for the issue.

According to The Associated Press, at least one airport in Colorado, the Colorado Springs Airport, has implemented amnesty boxes, which allow passengers to drop off marijuana before they go through security to avoid getting in trouble.

The passage of Amendment 64 in November of 2012 made it legal for adults 21 and older who are residents of Colorado to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana. Non-residents can possess up to a quarter-ounce.

Recreational marijuana is illegal in the majority of the U.S., so anyone who is caught with it once they leave Colorado is subject to prosecution.

Source:    http://www.telluridenews.com