It’s that good old question we’ve addressed before here, is it legal to fly with weed in South Africa? The answer is still yes – but it is complicated. And we’ll get into the details now-now, but can you carry edibles on a plane?
The answer is still – yes – but there are Ts & Cs you’ll need to be aware of. While we understand everyone wants to exercise their newly given right, the fact is the Constitutional Court ruling about the private use of marijuana, dagga, or cannabis, is still very vague.
Let’s dive into it shall we!
How much can you fly with?
The likelihood that airport security picks up the fact you’re carrying edibles is low. After all, they will look like, you know, edibles. Unless there’s a sniffer dog, no one will know. But if you’re packing old school plant material, currently, you may carry a small amount of cannabis on your person.
According to the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, you can carry 100g of dried herb. How this translates to edibles is well, undetermined.
Just as an aside, you cannot smoke cannabis in the presence of children, so we can assume eating it as an edible isn’t legal either. So, just don’t do it in front of junior.
The issue of children having access to your edibles is considered an offence too, so keep it out of Junior’s reach too.. But once again, there is no real clarity. And this bill isn’t law, so these are rough guidelines. The eagle eye’d readers amongst you would have noticed that the bill doesn’t talk about edibles. Some of you might assume this is a loophole! It is not!
Okay, back to the point, before you start getting high in economy class between Cape Town and Joburg (you’d have to eat it at least an hour before getting on the flight), let’s just investigate whether you can legally be high on a plane.
Can you fly, while flying real high?
So, this is a bag of worms that we’ve opened. Can you legally be high on a plane? While you cannot smoke on a plane.- for the love of God please tell us you know this by now – can you chow a ton of edibles while checking in and flying real high?
In Clause 5 of the Cannabis for Private Purpose Bill it states:
Clause 5 criminalises aspects pertaining to smoking and consumption of
– Cannabis for Private Purpose Bill
cannabis. In terms of clause 1, ‘‘consumption’’ is defined as to eat, drink or
otherwise to self-administer cannabis and ‘‘smoke’’ is in turn defined as to
inhale or exhale the smoke produced by ignited cannabis or holding or
otherwise having control of ignited cannabis or any device or object that
contains ignited cannabis. In terms of—
(a) clause 5(1), any person who smokes or consumes cannabis in a public
place, is guilty of a Class D offence;
(b) clause 5(2), any person who smokes cannabis in a public or private place
in the immediate presence of any non-consenting adult person, is guilty
of a Class D offence;
(c) clause 5(3), any person who smokes cannabis in a public or private place
in the immediate presence of a child, is guilty of a Class C offence;
(d) clause 5(4), any person who smokes cannabis in a private place—
(i) within a distance prescribed by regulation from a window of,
ventilation inlet of, doorway to or entrance into another place; or
(ii) forming part of any place where persons congregate within close
proximity of one another and where the smoke is likely to cause
a hindrance to any person at that place,
is guilty of a Class D offence; and
(e) clause 5(5), any person who smokes or consumes cannabis in a vehicle
on a public road, is guilty of a Class C offence (‘‘vehicle’’ and ‘‘public
road’’ have the respective meanings assigned to them in section 1 of the
National Road Traffic Act, 1996).
From this we can only gauge that you can’t be high in public. Just like South Africa’s alcohol consumption law (hard to believe, but it’s true).
What does this all mean about flying with edibles?
What a lot of joyous reading… ok… so what does this mean? Don’t consume your edibles on the plane, and don’t prepare for the edible to kick in mid-flight. Trust us, being high on a plane isn’t cool!
You become very aware you’re in a flying tube speeding through the air at millions of kilometres per hour.
If you must have an edible, you can enjoy CBD products on the flight. Highly recommended.
And as a FYI: How the weight of an edible will be classed is another grey area.
You could have used way less than the 100g outlined in the bill when making your edibles, but if the arresting officer decides to interpret the law as: “that all the ingredients are cannabis edibles, AKA cannabis flower”, your cake will be sending you straight to jail…
Also, it doesn’t matter if you’re in Cape Town or Joburg – jails in both cities are shit.
As with all cannabis legality discussions, there’s been no real effort to clarify details, thus no real solid advice to follow.
At the end of the day all experts can agree on is if you are in possession of cannabis, and a police person is searching you – just hope the cop is cool.
So, what is the best way to get your edibles between Johannesburg and Cape Town? A quick hint, it’s not on a plane.
Get it delivered!
Yes! Just like your last five take-out meals – get it delivered! Delivery companies are efficient and reliable. Also, they’re not going to be thrown into the slammer if the cops pull them over. Everyone wins.
And if you must fly with your edibles, for, like, pain reasons, make sure to travel with a smell proof bag like Revelry.
Also, no, you cannot fly with your edibles to a country where it isn’t legal! So, if you are traveling somewhere, Google it. Or read the article we wrote about cannabis destinations.
