WASHINGTON: Marijuana restrictions have been relaxed in the District, but an incident Wednesday at one of the region’s airports showed that Washington-area marijuana enforcement, even involving small amounts, has not ended.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said a search of the luggage of an arriving passenger at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport yielded a discovery and a seizure. The search came after a customs detector dog “alerted,” the agency said.
The item seized, the agency said, was a single cigarette that contained less than 1 gram of marijuana.
The cigarette was in a bag carried by a U.S. citizen, who was arriving from Jamaica, the agency said.
The agency said the woman, who comes from the Bronx, was released after being assessed what was described as a $500 “zero tolerance penalty. A customs spokesman said a zero tolerance penalty was a civil penalty imposed when a traveler is not charged with any crime.
An agency official said “possessing narcotics, even in small amounts that appear to be for personal use, remains illegal” and could lead to severe consequences, including civil penalties and possible arrest.
