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Travel Health Watch.

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New York (AirGuide - Travel Health Watch) Oct 25, 2009

Considering the haziness surrounding medical marijuana laws, it may be surprising that some of the most uptight places in the Bay Area N local airports N are also some of the most laid back when it comes to medical pot patients. San Francisco police, who patrol San Francisco International Airport, say they allow card-holding medical marijuana patients to carry up to 8 ounces of dried cannabis when traveling. The SFO policy follows the guidelines police use within the city of San Francisco, said Sgt. Wilfred Williams. Then-San Francisco police Chief Heather Fong enacted the policy in November 2008 through a three-page bulletin to officers. It instructs officers to leave medical marijuana patients and their drugs alone if they are using the marijuana for medical purposes and not for criminal activity. And when it comes to air travel, local police N not airport officials or federal authorities N determine which passengers can fly with medical pot. Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said airport security officers are trained to check for dangerous items such as explosives when screening departing passengers, their carry-on bags and checked luggage. TSA officers sometimes find items such as drugs and child pornography, however, and turn them over to local law enforcement, which decides what to do with the items and the passenger, Trevino said. If the local police force allows the passenger to keep their medical marijuana, the TSA would not stop them from traveling...

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