‘Amnesty Boxes’ At Airport Allows Travelers To Ditch Their Weed Before A Flight

Steve Birr

Travelers who accidentally bring their marijuana to a Las Vegas airport can now ditch their stash in disposal bins installed outside the gates before a flight.

The Clark County Department of Aviation began installing the green bins outside McCarran International Airport after the Clark County Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance banning marijuana possession and advertising at the airport. There are currently 13 “amnesty boxes” located outside the airport gates in “high-traffic” areas, reported Fox News.

Officials say they want to give people who are taking advantage of Nevada’s recently reformed marijuana laws a chance to dispose of their products before running into problems with security. Travelers caught with marijuana at the airport previously would have to deal with Las Vegas Metro Police, though no citations were ever issued under the ordinance.

“The amnesty boxes are offered as a way to help people comply with this ordinance,” said McCarran airport spokeswoman Christine Crews, according to Fox News. “The drawer pulls out; you drop your stuff in and you close it. You can’t really get your hand in there. If you start tampering with them, you’d be detected pretty quickly.”

Voters in Nevada approved a ballot to legalize marijuana for recreational use in November 2016, along with California, Massachusetts and Maine. The policy officially took effect in Nevada on July 1, 2017, and is proving extremely lucrative, generating more than $30 million in tax revenue for the state through the end of 2017, reported KSNV.

Recreational cannabis is legal in nine states and Washington, D.C., while medical cannabis is legal in 29 states. Nearly 20 percent of Americans now have access to legal pot.

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