Weed has recently become legalized in a lot of states in the good old US of A, and that means more people are willing to try it, for both recreational and medicinal purposes.
Since the law has changed in these states, that means at a federal level, the law must also change to accommodate these new practices.
The new legal challenges that producing and selling cannabis have created are not only the problems of administrators and bureaucrats.
It has become a concern for the average person on the street, as they know weed is now legal in some areas, but they are unsure just how legal.
Countries around the world have strong traditional and communal ties to alcohol, so the standards are already present in how to deal with it in a legal sense, but this is not the case for weed.
This becomes more puzzling and scary when dealing with large governmental institutions such as the police or the mail service.
Many people preferring to order goods or wanting to share with friends are hesitating from openly mailing weed, just in case the law comes down on them.
Well, fear not, in this article we will look closer at weed and see just how legal it is to mail the substance.
Is It Legal To Mail Weed In The US?
Many people and websites urm and ahh about this question, but we would like to give you a definitive answer.
Hemp products with minimal THC are legally allowed to be mailed, any other cannabis based product – including the one that gets you high – absolutely not. Don’t even try it.
Even for the hemp products with the tiniest amounts of THC (like hemp rope or papers), the delivery service and the company sending them needs to have a license from the specific states they are interacting with during this procedure.
This is for products with less than 0.3% THC, a fraction of what is in most cannabis based products, so even attempting this could end badly for you.
Even after getting licenses, the bureaucratic procedures to deal with are a nightmare that must be dealt with to avoid prosecution.
The sender must not only deal with the compliance laws of whatever state their product touches ground on, but for up to 2 years after sending they must have the necessary licenses, laboratory tests, and compliance reports in order to avoid a potential prison sentence.
Is Sending Weed In The Mail That Risky?
Yes. Yes it is.
See, when dealing with the United States Postal Service, you have to remember that they are a cross-country and international institution.
This means that you won’t be getting a slap on the wrist, a fine, or a few days in a county jail for your troubles at the pleasure of the state.
No, because this happened within the postal service and could be seen as drug trafficking, you would be slapped with a federal crime and that is not something you want.
Federal sentences are normally much harsher than state crimes.
For a weed related state crime, you may get off with a few days or months in a jail cell before walking free, nothing too bad really.
For a weed related federal crime, you might as well enjoy your last days on the outside, as you may be in prison for the long haul.
You may also be considered as a potential person of interest when they seek to prosecute major drug operations.
This is not a place you want to be, caught between a ruthless drug gang and a ruthless federal government agency, not exactly ideal.
So, in summation of this section: Don’t mail weed, it is a federal crime and if you are caught, then your freedoms could be forfeit.
What Are The Laws Around Marijuana In Legal States?
Most legal states will allow you to buy cannabis and grow a few plants, for example in California you can have 8 ounces of marijuana and up to 6 mature plants.
While this may be a bit more than a lot of states, it is a bit less than some others.
Most legal states are not worried about people consuming cannabis, their main concerns are actually that people are making money from the product’s sale and the state’s governments are not getting a piece of that pie.
In Oregon alone, the yearly cannabis market’s profits are worth $520 million dollars, which makes a hefty sum for the government when taxed.
So when you look at the amount of weed you are allowed, consider it more as a guideline for police to arrest potential drug traffickers – who would be more likely to carry more weed on their person – rather than the average person, as average people pay taxes for their cannabis, whereas traffickers do not.
Therefore, it is best to view the new legal status of marijuana and the marijuana laws more in the sense of prescription medication, rather than alcohol or other illicit drugs.
They are both controlled, have laws around them that promote them in moderation, and they are both useful in the medical field, but both substances have the potential for abuse both by the consumer and the provider.
The only real difference in the way they are controlled is that legal consumption of marijuana can also be recreational, as stated in most marijuana laws.
With this being the case, before you do anything with weed that you are unsure of in a legal state, ask yourself whether you would be willing to do this with alcohol or prescription medication.
If the answer is no, it’s probably best to avoid doing so.
Conclusion
Sending weed in the mail is not only illegal, but highly risky.
The rewards are almost non-existent and the risk is that you gain a felony on your record as well as a few years in the pen, which when you consider that you could just drive a couple of hours to get legal or decriminalized weed in another state is a downright stupid move.
That’s not a joke either, for almost every illegal state, there is a state next door where weed is either readily available or decriminalized (excluding the belt from North Carolina to Georgia). As such, just don’t risk it.
My name is David Lumis and I am a self-proclaimed smoker. Five years ago, after I had been made redundant from my job as an engineer, my anxiety hit an all time peak. I have always struggled with it since I was a teenager, but that life event sent me into overdrive.
My story is exactly why I want to educate more people about cannabis and show them that it isn’t a dirty drug, but a form of medicine. If you are struggling, I urge you to read through this site to see how cannabis can help you.
