drug consumption
Cannabis on the plane – is that allowed?
If you want to smoke a joint on vacation, you still have to be careful
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Cannabis has been partially legalized in Germany since April. But many questions still remain unanswered. For example, whether travelers are allowed to take marijuana with them on vacation. Customs has a clear answer to this.
Smoking weed has been legal in Germany since April 2024. At least partially. Consumption is still linked to a strict set of rules. And that is complex, sometimes confusing. For example, you are allowed to carry up to 25 grams Cannabis in public spaces, but you can’t consume it everywhere. Among other things, it is not allowed to smoke a joint in pedestrian zones in the afternoon, but this is not a problem at night. And what about taking weed with you on your next plane ride?
Until now this was strictly forbidden. If grass was still found in the luggage, the traveler had to expect arrest, even if it was only a small amount. And that is still the case when traveling abroad. Right on April 1st, the day of partial legalization, customs made it clear that the “import, export and transit of cannabis” was still “prohibited and punishable”. This means that just because I am allowed to have a certain amount of grass with me in Germany, I am not allowed to purchase it abroad and bring it with me to Germany. At the same time, I am not allowed to take it with me from Germany to my travel destination abroad.
It is legal to take cannabis on domestic flights in Germany
But there are actually exceptions, namely when you fly within Germany. “Within the permitted quantities of the cannabis law, taking it on domestic German flights cannot be sanctioned,” explains a spokesman for the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport in response to a request from the specialist portal “Aerotelegraph”. For aviation security reasons in accordance with Section 5 of the Aviation Security Act, there are no objections to carrying cannabis of up to 25 grams in hand or luggage, said the spokesman. This regulation applies equally to passengers and flight crew. However, aviation companies could make other regulations for the crews at the labor law level.
In any case, Lufthansa, which operates more than 80 percent of all domestic flights in Germany, refers to the laws in the respective countries in its conditions of carriage. Accordingly, the regulations of the country from which the flight “departs from, which is flown to or is flown over” apply to passengers and baggage. On domestic flights, taking along is permitted as long as the legal amount is not exceeded.
Source: Federal Ministry of Health, Customs, Aerotelegraph