Originally Posted by
gsoltso
That would have to come from much higher up the food chain than myself. I am simply relaying information that I have seen questions on for some time, and I (now) have the published information to back up the answer that I am giving.
Originally Posted by
chollie
I appreciate this, <deleted>, and I know you personally have nothing to do with the decisions HQ makes.
I suspect what is now available to the public on the website is exactly what was in place as SSI SOP when my pills were confiscated. Nothing appears to have changed in that regard.
They were confiscated because the 'final decision' was that the medical rules were overridden by the zero tolerance, NO exceptions rule that applies to certain substances, regardless of purpose or quantity. In principle, I get that, I really do. I have no doubt that TSOs are trained 'when in doubt, don't take chances, take the item'.
I never suggested that my pills were confiscated because of one rogue TSO. Multiple 'layers' of TSOs were summoned, all the way up to suits, and the opinion was unanimous: two rules were in conflict, and the rule about explosive substances was more important. The threats I got that day went way beyond DY...T - more like DY...EverAgain.
Reminder: there was no alarm, swabbing didn't test positive. The pills were found during a bag search when the TSO read the label on the bottle.
<deleted>, I truly appreciate the effort you've made, but to be perfectly candid, it's useless to simply repeat the information from the TSA web site - which we've all looked at ourselves multiple times, including the very same searches you've done - rather than taking it up the line and getting some definitive policy clarification from your superiors.
If you look at Chollie's experience, what you see is a systemic stupidity. Multiple layers of TSA all said, "No nitro pills", and for only one reason - because explosives are prohibited in any quantities, no matter how small.
Well, that's fine, except medical nitro pills and patches are NOT explosive, in any quantities. I could take 50 pounds of them aboard a plane, pound them to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle, and they WOULD NOT EXPLODE. The other chemicals mixed with with the nitro in pills and patches chemically neutralizes the explosive component, rendering it completely harmless.
However, the ridiculous urban legend that nitro pills can explode continues to be perpetuated by ignorant people. The multiple TSA employees who backed the confiscation of Chollie's pills - thus endangering his life - were all acting under a delusion.
Since you are not only a front-line TSO, but also a member of the TSA blog team, I challenge you to push this as far up the chain as you can, and not only through your direct chain of command at GSO, but through the blog team as well. I don't know whether Bob has any direct line to the upper management of the agency, but seeing as how he officially represents them on a mass media outlet, I would assume that he does, since he has to clear any information releases with someone before he puts them on the web. Talk to him.
Push till it gives, <deleted>. You have an opportunity here to potentially save lives by fighting against incompetence and ignorance in TSA ranks. And the best part of it is that you will not be challenging any established policy in any way - you'll only be asking that upper management send out a memo and a press release verifying that an urban myth is demonstrably false - that nitro pills and patches are permitted items because they ARE NOT EXPLOSIVES and thus are completely harmless to both aircraft and passengers.