No matter where you live, you should always start your travelling research closer to home. The onus is always on you to follow the laws first of your country of origin and then move on to any country you may intend to visit.
Although there have been great strides to legalise medical cannabis in many countries around the world, there are still those in which it has never been approved even for medical use. Therefore, it is imperative that you understand that crossing borders with cannabis can, and often does, carry criminal charges. Even between members of the EU, the laws regarding cannabis are specific to each country so it is imperative that you do the research before taking your doctor prescribed medical cannabis with you on a trip anywhere outside your native country.
Let’s start closer to home
No matter where you live, you should always start your travelling research closer to home. The onus is always on you to follow the laws first of your country of origin and then move on to any country you may intend to visit. One thing you will want to look at to give you even a small idea of just how strict the laws still are regarding cannabis would be the laws regarding cannabis seeds.
If you look very carefully at the disclaimer on all sites selling feminised seeds in the UK and Europe, you will see that it reads something to the effect of seeds being, “sold as souvenirs or collectibles.” In other words, even though medical cannabis may be legal where you live, it is often not legal to grow. However, there are countries where cultivation is legal but that doesn’t mean you can take your flowers with you when travelling.
Travelling to and through Europe
This is, perhaps, the area of the world that most confuses people when booking travel plans for business or pleasure. Many believe that because there are member states within the EU, cannabis laws pertain equally to all 27 countries. That isn’t the case when it comes to cannabis, medical or otherwise. The European Union was established as an economic and political union of 27 countries, but the purpose was to encourage free movement of people, goods, services and money within union states.
If you look at that carefully, it was a move to stabilise the economy in Europe, plain and simple. Cannabis laws exist outside that paradigm. The end result is that whether you want to travel to a single member state or through several, you will need to check medical cannabis laws in each and every country you will be travelling to or through.
Photo by Cambridge Jenkins IV on Unsplash
A workaround – Sort of
It is encouraged that you do the research at least a couple months in advance of your trip to Europe because you will need proper permissions in countries where medical cannabis has been legalised. Don’t expect it to be an overnight endeavour. The long and short of it is that in many cases you can take medical cannabis with you on a trip to Europe, but you still need to coordinate with each country to document your ‘authority’ to travel with medical grade cannabis.
Even when travelling through the Schengen countries, you can’t automatically assume each of those nations that signed the Schengen Agreement have equal laws regarding the use of, and travel with, cannabis. This site has a lot of information on what you need to do to prepare for, and obtain, getting those permissions. At this point, you need to realise that cannabis is still classified as a narcotic in most regions of the world, so that is why you need to follow the laws regarding travelling with cannabis.
Narrowing it down even further
To make it even more confusing, not all cannabis was created equal! There are only four ways in which widely used cannabis can be approved in those Schengen countries and brands are important. These include:
- Sativex – an oral spray product
- Marinol – gelatin capsules
- Cesamet – capsule
- Bedrocan – flowers
Here again, the laws are quite specific no matter where you want to travel so be very careful to start early to research, document and gain proper permissions if you intend to travel with medical cannabis.
Travelling with homegrown buds
Even though travelling with cannabis through those Schengen countries has specific brands and uses legislated, some people want to bring their homegrown buds/flowers with them. In many cases, that is not legal but there may be countries where it is approved. Take for example the United States of America. Just because much of the country has legalised cannabis to some extent and in many states, it can be home grown, it still isn’t legal to travel across state borders with cannabis, homegrown or otherwise.
So then, if it is legal to cultivate cannabis where you live, don’t expect that it will automatically be considered a legal medical cannabis product. You may be able to germinate and cultivate those lovely, feminised seeds at your home, but you probably should consider buying your medical cannabis in the country or state you will be visiting. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
