Marijuana smokers leaving town through the Colorado Springs airport can drop any leftover buds in their pockets at the facility’s recently installed “pot amnesty” boxes, but so far no one has parted with their forgotten stash.
Airport authorities say that not so much as a single roach has been deposited in the green boxes. To them, that means tokers are getting the message that traveling out of state with Colorado marijuana remains illegal.
But it could also mean that those who are using the new law are just doing what pot smokers have done for decades — taking their chances.
“We hope that if they have marijuana, they opt to leave it in their vehicles or at home,” Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs police told KRDO Newschannel 13.
It could also be that no one knows what the boxes are for. Several travelers interviewed by the station didn’t know what was meant to be placed in them.
The pot amnesty boxes are just one of many strange new realities since Colorado legalized the sale of recreational marijuana to adults 21 and older. With travel demand spiking since the new law went into effect, state officials have been scrambling to ensure that visitors understand the rules. They include not taking marijuana out of state.
Denver International Airport has banned marijuana from all airport property, including for employees as well as visitors. Fines range from $150 for first offenders to $999 for those who get caught three times.
“Marijuana is on the list of TSA’s prohibited items,” DIA spokeswoman Stacey Stegman told the Denver’s 7News. “You can’t fly with it. It doesn’t distinguish between marijuana, recreational, any time. We as an airport have a responsibly to honor that. We can’t facilitate the transport of marijuana across state lines when it’s illegal.”
Aspen officials are also considering amnesty boxes for its airport. As in Colorado Springs, any forfeited pot would be destroyed, if the boxes are ever used.
“It will be burned,” Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo told the Aspen Daily News, “and not slowly.”
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