RatherBeOnATrain

A link:
San Francisco Chronicle:
Pot in the peanut butter jar doesn’t fool TSA
Feb 15 at 2:31 pm

A short quote from the link:That's too bad, since I believe marijuana helps to keep DYKWIAism in check....

Flahusky

Not the first time someone tried using peanut butter to smuggle stuff...
What I found interesting is this:
I know it is subject to 'SSI' but since when is a paste a liquid

Xyzzy

TSA isn't very gd when it comes to the states of matter. It considers ice to be a liquid as well.

mikeef

"Man, I'm so hungry. I know, I'll have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That should cure the munchies."

Mike

N965VJ

Yeah, but then they clean out the F snack basket.

AirlineBrat53

Peanut butter (and some chocolate) has the same consistency as plastique. It shows up as a threat on the screens for the luggage and carry on scans.

Mientree

So, am I to take it that the real issue is the fact that he had peanut butter since marijuana is legal under certain circumstances in California? Wonder if they would have questioned him if he didn't have the peanut butter jar? (Although, from the picture, it appears that the jar was rather empty - perhaps he had the munchies before he arrived.)

Per Nico, since it's such a dangerous item, I guess I can't find any peanut butter on the air side of the check point - or if I do, I should then report it per the "See Somthing, Say Something" guidelines.... (?)

<semi-sarcastically>

Since so many things are only dangerous at the check point - not on either side of it - perhaps we ought to outlaw the check points so that we can all be safe.

Think about it... water is:

• Perfectly safe before you get to the check point.
• Perfectly safe after the check point.
• Perfectly safe when brought into the check point from the 'secure' side.
• Perfectly safe when brought in the exit or side gate when taken to the stores / restaurants.
• Perfectly safe when TSA employees and selected airline employees bring it in.
• Perfectly safe when thrown in the magical trash can.
• etc...

The only time it's not safe is when a passenger is herded through the line and forced through a security check which includes x-rays, mmw scans, and/or pat-downs. Maybe it is a public service; but, perhaps they should explain what they are doing to the passengers that makes perfectly safe water suddenly no longer safe?

<end semi-sarcatic comment>

WillCAD

It's never been about the water, it's about the people carrying the water.

TSA employees are considered to be above reproach by TSA, by default. Ergo, if one of them carries a clear liquid in a clear plastic bottle labeled "Water", the label is presumed to be telling the truth, and the liquid is presumed to be water.

Likewise, those people who work inside the sterile area, and those businesses which operate inside the sterile area, are presumed to have been fully vetted by TSA and deemed to be trustworthy (at varying levels, depending on their positions). Thus, when one of those individuals or businesses brings clear liquid in a clear plastic bottle labeled "Water" into the sterile area, the label is presumed to be telling the truth, because it is being carried by someone whose truthfulness and trustworthiness has been vetted and verified by TSA.

You and I, on the other hand, are presumed to be dishonest, dangerous, potentially violent terrorists, and only vetted by TSA via invasive, abusive, un-Constitutional searches at the checkpoint. Our honesty is never assumed, our trustworthiness is never believed, and our backgrounds are always suspect. Hence, when WE carry a clear liquid in a clear plastic bottle labeled "Water", the label is presumed to be false, and the liquid is presumed to NOT be water, and since we are presumed to be dishonest, potentially dangerous people, we are never given any opportunity to prove that the label is, in fact, truthful, and the liquid is, in fact, water.

Heck, I am truly shocked that anyone who drinks the last of their water at the c/p is allowed to enter the sterile area. After all, suicide bombers are going to die, anyway, so it wouldn't be beyond them to drink liquid explosives and later find some fiendish method of detonating it!

N830MH

Yup, he got busted! He will go to jail for that. He will not permitted to enter the secure area. Shame on him!

Great job TSA at OAK!! Let's keep bad guys off the streets.

WillCAD

It's not TSA's job to keep the bad guys off the streets.

It's TSA's job to keep Weapons, Explosives, and Incendiaries off planes.

Anything else they do is beyond their mandate and is a waste of their resources which shows a deplorable and dangerous lack of focus.

However, since they do have to search people anyway, I do agree that they should notify LEOs when they discover illegal activity. They're trying to become in interstate CBP, however, using airport screenings as massive warrantless fishing expeditions, and that's more frightening than some idiot stoner with a few ounces of weed in a peanut butter jar.

N830MH

Yes, TSA doing their job and they have it rights to keep drugs off the planes. Get it? TSA is responsible the aviation security screening. TSA had it rights to keep bad guys off the plane.

GoAmtrak

Um, no. Personal marijuana possession is a civil infraction in California and carries a $100 fine, akin to jaywalking. Read the article. He was cited and released. Had he possessed a valid, county-issued medical marijuana ID card, he would have been allowed to travel with his stash (with a warning from the LEO about potentially different laws in any other states he might travel to).

These "bad guys" are very likely to be your friends and neighbors. At least one-third of all Americans above age 12 have used cannabis, including at least the three most recent Presidents. Putting them behind bars is bankrupting our country, depriving the public of tax revenue, enriching drug cartels, and driving Americans towards drugs which are perfectly legal but empirically much more harmful. It's also yet another obscene waste of resources in our approach to national security, one that's a distraction from real threats. Essentially, waging war on a plant and the people who use it makes us much less safe.

And I couldn't agree more with RatherBeOnATrain. Imagine if those boorish, violent RIM executives who were drunk and on pills had instead smoked a joint or eaten a brownie beforehand. I bet it would have been a much more peaceful flight.

N965VJ

Wirelessly posted (Motorola DynaTAC: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.6; en-us; SPH-D710 Build/GINGERBREAD) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

EDIT: something is off with FT Mobile.

Pesky Monkey

^

firequall

The peanut butter is only there to help mask the smell from luggage workers and potentially drug dogs. He would have had better luck if he shipped the jar instead of subjecting it to multiple xrays at the airport.