kmflinkle

I once went through airport security in Upstate NY wearing a Red Sox jersey.... "New rules just went into effect madam, I'm afraid your shirt isn't allowed through security. We have a solution though, if we place some pinstripes on there and cover RED SOX with YANKEES, it will be compliant"

WillCAD

As an Oriole fan, I can certainly appreciate the humor in a Yankees fan busting the chops of a Sox fan. But such jokes are still unprofessional and inappropriate in an on-duty TSO.

FliesWay2Much

Nothing like a preemptive strike on a potential lawsuit...

sethb

Like the Security Theater Authority cares?

jkhuggins

Precisely. If it's inappropriate for passengers to tell jokes at a checkpoint, to the point that there is official signage telling that to passengers, then it's inappropriate for TSOs to tell jokes as well.

nmh1204

deleted

Boggie Dog

Yet TSA can't (or will not) change the ambigous language stating if nitro medicines are allowed.

WillCAD

It's not ambiguous at all - medications are allowed, including medically necessary liquids.

Explosives are prohibited.

Medical nitro (in all of its forms) is not an explosive.

However, some moron in a TSA costume prohibited Chollie from taking his nitro through because he was under the idiotic delusion that nitro medications are explosives. This is not true, has never been true, and is an urban myth on the level of the guy who woke up in a bath tub of ice with a kidney missing. Yet the TSO not only forced him to dispose of his life-saving medication before transiting the c/p, the moron was also backed up by his moron supervisor when Chollie protested.

This is the level of intelligence evident in the average TSO - they actually think that medical nitro is an explosive. They probably think that the nitro explodes in the body to get the heart started after a heart attack (it's actually a vasodilator which opens blood vessels to improve blood flow). And although it's stated on the TSA blog somewhere that medical nitro is permitted, Chollie has been so spooked by the experience that he has never again tried to carry his nitro with him.

Boggie Dog

The language for medical nitro given on the TSA "Can I Bring" website is about larger quanties of medical LGA's. At no point is guidance given that clearly states that medical nitro is permitted.

But I do believe that any taking of these type items is from the scary word 'nitroglycerin' and lack of understanding by the highly trained TSA screener.

chollie

It's hardly surprising that some TSOs hear 'nitro' and freak out. (There has been at least one other reported instance of nitro pill confiscation that I have read about).

After all, it took a while before some of them started understanding that the 'glycerin' in some lotions and soaps is a harmless substance and not part of evil 'nitro-glycerin'.

It's like getting in trouble because you work for a TV station and you show up at the checkpoint wearing a t-shirt with 'TNT' on it.

The blog has a note about nitro pills and patches, but 1) it is a blog post, not binding at the checkpoint and 2) it includes the lie that the pills/patches have never been prohibited.

Doesn't it seem odd that TSA can (possibly at <deleted>'s urging) put in a blog post about the matter but still can't update the website to clearly state that medical nitro is allowed in pill or patch form, instead of linking to a clearly inapplicable answer about medical LGAs.

I don't know how many times I have to say it before TSA gets it: my nitro pills were not confiscated because they were a medicine, they were confiscated because they are on an SSI list of prohibited substances.

sethb

Did you get the names of the morons? You can't get them fired if nobody knows who they are.

(If someone attempted to take prescription medication from me, I'd offer them one chance to return it, then start screaming for the police and demand they be charged with illegal possession of prescription drugs.)

WillCAD

As I recall, didn't the TSO simply keep repeating, "No explosives, no exceptions"? So we don't really know for sure that nitro is on the SSI list of prohibited items. Anything is possible, but I tend to doubt that such an important life-saving medication could be banned, even secretly, based on a ridiculous urban myth.

Of course, we're talking about TSA, so...

chollie

I can believe that nitroglycerine (explosive) is on some SSI list of banned substances (like the C4 that inexplicably passed inspection at one airport).

I know nothing about the explosive 'nitro' - I don't even know if is a liquid or solid. I do know that a raft of people who should have known better decided that 'nitro' in any form or quantity for any purpose is prohibited. TSA is clearly still confused about the matter, because the website addresses medical nitro under the LGA rules. To the best of my knowledge, medical nitro only comes in pill and patch form.

Not unlike the over-reaction some people experienced when a swab test alarmed on lotion or soap residue. It was a known issue, but some TSOs still pretended like they were on to the 'big catch' and acted accordingly.

Boggie Dog

I am fairly certain that a topical nitroglycerin cream is also available. Now that would certainly cause our highly trained TSA screeners to panic. A tube of Nitro (medicine) would likely cause a checkpoint closure given the skill level of the typical TSA screener.

I still suggest that you take a small number of your pills packed properly in the supplied container with you on future flights. That way you don't risk you entire supply but can see if perhaps TSA has managed to pass the word that medical nitro is not prohibited.

I know you are concerned about what TSA has said to you in the past but they cannot do anything negative to you if you are only carrying medicine that is yours and is properly labeled.

Should they try you will have an excellent opportunity to increase your retirement nest egg.

I would never travel without medicines that might be a lifesaver.

chollie

Boggie, if you had been there that day and accused like I was and threatened like I was, you would understand. I was told that any future 'problem' would result in my being put on a watch list.

A data point: my entire supply is never more than 15 pills - that's how they are dispensed, in a tiny (much smaller than your baby finger) glass bottle inside a regular pill bottle (big enough to hold the label).

I realize it's extremely likely I would ever be caught. The pills were only discovered during a very detailed (read everything, swab everything) bag search. My pills didn't alarm the swab (he didn't open the bottle and swab the internal contents) - he read the label and gasp! - discovered my 'artfully concealed' contraband in its clearly labelled prescription bottle.

Medicine and medical restrictions had nothing to do with it (according to TSA). They reacted the same way Texas TSOs did to seeing clearly labelled, government issue C4 in a veteran's bag. No way, no how, ain't gonna pass.

If it was so simple and clearcut as we all think it should be, then why does TSA refuse to update the website? We have been told before on this board that the blog is voluntary, un-moderated, unofficial and non-binding at the checkpoint. TSA has clearly deliberately chosen to not update the website to reflect the fact that medical nitro is not always an LGA (I have never heard of it in any form except pills and patches). And of course, the guy who was behind the blog update conveniently no longer works for TSA.....