Traveling with CBD Products

A picture of a map with many pins attached.

Traveling With CBD Products

If you’ve embraced CBD to treat pain, mood, or sleep issues, you may want to bring it with you when you travel. CBD legality and legislation have undergone many changes in recent years, so make sure you have the most up-to-date information from reliable sources when you evaluate whether you can legally bring it to your destination.

This is a complicated issue with many moving parts. Here’s a brief guide from your friends at Wellness Medical Supplies & Mobility Equipment in Anaheim, California. Please confirm the current legal status of CBD in any place you intend to travel with your CBD product. We are not qualified to give legal advice.





A person and their dog sitting on a grassy hill in front of the beach

Different Laws for Different Delivery Systems

First, let’s acknowledge that people can consume CBD in a variety of ways. There are topical delivery systems such as salves, creams, and oils. There are internal delivery systems such as food, drink, tinctures, pills, capsules, and gummies. And there are airborne delivery systems such as smoking and vaping. Each destination may have specific rules about specific delivery systems. For example, states may allow or forbid CBD specifically in food and beverage. So when you research your destination, make sure to take the form of the CBD product into consideration.

Air Travel Regulations regarding CBD

In May 2019 the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) announced that air travelers can now carry CBD oils on flights, providing the product adheres to federal law: They must be derived from industrial hemp and contain 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or less.

Important considerations include:

  • Full-spectrum CBD products may contain THC above the legal limit.
  • For greater confidence, travel only with THC-free products. Look for “broad spectrum” or “CBD isolate” on the label.
  • Law enforcement drug test kits may only detect the presence of THC, not the quantity
  • Security officers and drug-sniffing dogs alike may struggle to distinguish between CBD and THC products.
  • Always travel with commercially packaged CBD products.
  • Make sure your products are lab tested.
  • Don’t travel with hemp flowers. Law enforcement can’t distinguish them from marijuana flowers, AKA “bud”.
  • Obey TSA flight rules in place for liquid containers, vape pens, and e-cigarettes.

Domestic Travel with CBD

The 2018 Farm Bill federally legalized industrial hemp and hemp-derived products. This means they are no longer on the Controlled Substances Act, and interstate commerce or distribution between states is permitted. Industrial hemp by law has less than 0.3% THC. However, state governments have the authority to outlaw anything derived from cannabis if they choose, including industrial hemp. Travelers should research the laws of every state they plan to travel through.

International Travel with CBD

Some nations may permit hemp-based CBD. Some may prohibit CBD if it’s accompanied by too much THC. Some will forbid all cannabis-derived products. Here are a few examples.

Important considerations include:

  • Mexico recently decriminalized small amounts of marijuana for recreational use. However, CBD products with more than 1% THC are still illegal. Hemp-derived CBD, with less than 0.3% THC, is legal for purchase in Mexico and use in the country.
  • Canada legalized marijuana, but it only permits leaves and flowers for recreational use. Extracts such as CBD are still considered a controlled substance restricted to medicinal use.
  • The European Union has a patchwork of laws. The EU standard for THC requires 0.2% or less THC. In Austria and Luxembourg, the limit is up to 0.3% THC. France allows only 0% THC. Switzerland’s maximum is 1% THC. Slovakia and Lithuania prohibit CBD entirely.

Do Your Research

The bottom line is that every consumer must take responsibility for learning the ins and outs of CBD, THC, and marijuana laws wherever they go. It’s a complicated world out there, and we recommend proceeding with caution. In addition to conforming to local laws, you also want to avoid any hassles over perceived gray areas.

If all these overlapping rules have given you a headache… well, we’ve got CBD products to help you feel better! We look forward to seeing you at Wellness Medical Supplies & Mobility Equipment in Anaheim, California, where we are highly qualified in the realm of CBD for therapeutic benefits, but we are not qualified to give legal advice.


Anaheim, CA

(714) 779-8544

Contact Wellness Medical Supplies & Mobility Equipment

Please feel free to call us or
stop in today!