UNITED STATES—CBD capsules have become incredibly popular in the last few years, with a ton of people starting to use them every day.

However, with such a meteoric rise in the usage of CBD capsules comes a few questions about its legality. If you can take capsules in public or at work, where else can you take them?

For anyone who has to travel a lot, whether for work or pleasure, figuring out if you are allowed to bring CBD capsules on a plane is horrendously stressful. What if your CBD capsules have no THC in them; surely that’s okay, right?

Here is everything you need to know about taking CBD capsules on a plane.

Are CBD Capsules Legal in the First Place?

For starters, we need to understand the legality of CBD capsules. CBD comes from cannabis plants, which often erroneously leads people to believe that CBD is somehow illegal, only because it shares a plant with THC.

However, CBD is not federally illegal at all in the USA. As Jamie Corroon and Rod Kight put it in their study on cannabinoid regulation in the USA, “CBD products can currently be purchased […] and used.”

This is all thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill. The bill made CBD completely legal on a federal level, as long as any CBD extracted from cannabis plants contained no more than 0.2% THC content.

Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration also made a ruling that further cemented the legal status of CBD. Epidiolex, a cannabis-derived oral pharmaceutical drug intended to treat epilepsy, was deemed both legal and safe by the FDA.

Altogether, this means that CBD capsules are legal as long as they don’t contain above 0.2% THC concentration. However, something to keep in mind is that this limit only applies federally; individual states might have different limits. For example, many states allow up to 0.3% THC concentration. It’s possible to possess CBD pills that are legal in one state, but not in another.

This is partly where a lot of the confusion comes from when it comes to CBD capsules, as different states have different allowable levels of THC.

This only gets more difficult to understand when you start factoring in plane rides. Planes travel through federal airspace, so they are subject to federal rules. But CBD is entirely legal according to federal law, right? So what’s the problem?

What Is the Problem with Taking CBD Capsules on a Plane?

Despite the law, both federally and in an individual state, there are still some problems with trying to bring CBD capsules on a flight.

The official TSA regulations allow for CBD capsules and other CBD products to be brought aboard planes, provided they don’t contain any more than 0.3% THC. This is actually higher than the federally allowed limit, which makes the whole thing even more confusing.

So, you should be fine, right? Unfortunately, it isn’t always as clear cut as that.

The problem stems from disparate enforcement of TSA rules at different airports from different employees. While you should be perfectly safe to bring CBD capsules aboard planes, there is always the risk of getting stopped by a TSA agent that either doesn’t understand CBD or doesn’t believe you when you say it is below the allowable THC levels.

After all, you cannot tell the precise THC concentrations without a laboratory test, and the TSA agents aren’t exactly going to take your word for it.

The fact of the matter is that, yes, you can indeed bring CBD capsules that have no THC onto a plane. It isn’t entirely risk-free, though; there is always the risk of suffering stops and checks by the TSA. Of course, being stopped and questioned by the TSA is a lot better than being arrested, but having to deal with any airport delays is never a good thing.

So, what are you supposed to do?

What Can You Do to Take CBD Capsules with No THC on a Plane?

As long as you don’t mind the potential for stops, checks, and questions from the TSA, you can go ahead and bring your CBD capsules on a plane. As long as they contain less than the allowable amount of THC, which is 0.3%, then you should be okay.

For best results, use a well-reputed brand that provides a detailed lab report, like CBD capsules at PureKana. That way, you know what you are buying and ensure that you are not going above the THC’s legal limit.

As long as you are fully confident about what you are buying and you don’t mind a few extra questions, it should be fine.