Can You Take Cigarettes on a Plane? (TSA & Customs Rules) [2023]

Are you thinking about bringing cigarettes on a plane during your next trip? Are you aware of the potential restrictions you might be facing?

In this article, I will break down everything you need to know about bringing cigarettes on a plane and getting through TSA security.

I’ll also give you some insight on flying internationally and going through customs and when bringing related products like lighters, vapes, etc.

Can you take cigarettes on a plane?

Yes, you can take cigarettes on a plane as both a carry-on or a checked baggage item. However, you are not permitted to smoke them at any time while on the plane.

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TSA rules on cigarettes

TSA is very straightforward that you can bring cigarettes through airport security as a carry-on/personal item and that you can also place them in your checked baggage.

They don’t specify any size or quantity limit so theoretically you could probably bring as much as you can reasonably fit in your bag.

However, bringing mass quantities of almost anything can sometimes look suspicious.

It could result in you undergoing an enhanced screening which could take longer for you to get through security. However, if you have nothing to hide then there should not be an issue even if you have multiple cartons of cigarettes.

Smoking on a plane (a brief history)

Believe it or not, passengers used to be allowed to smoke on a plane while in the air.

In fact, some airlines even gave out complimentary cigars.

In the 1960s, momentum started to grow in opposition to allowing smoking on planes.

People were getting tired of having to breathe in exhaled smoke, especially flight attendants who spent so much time in the cabin.

It wasn’t just a matter of being annoyed, either. Flight attendants and crew were coming down with illnesses not to mention going home every day smelling like a giant burning cigarette.

There was also the lingering worry about starting a fire in the sky.

But as you would imagine, there was a lot of resistance by the tobacco industry.

Because smoking was so wildly accepted, a lot of people just considered dealing with second-hand smoke as a way of life.

Consider the statement made in the 1980s by US Civil Aeronautics Board chairman Dan McKinnon: “Philosophically, I think nonsmokers have rights, but it comes into marked conflict with practicalities and the realities of life.”

Eventually, the opposition grew strong enough that changes were made. However, the ban on smoking in a plane did not happen overnight.

Instead, there were a lot of incremental changes.

For example, first there were airlines like United that created smoke-free areas of the cabin.

Then, in 1988, airlines based in the US submitted to an official ban on smoking on domestic flights of under two hours.

A couple of years later this was extended to domestic flights of less than six hours, which effectively banned smoking on most US flights and was a major victory for The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA).

And then eventually, the ban was extended to all domestic and international flights as late as the year 2000.

During the time leading up to the year 2000, some airlines took initiative to ban smoking like Delta which became the first US airline to ban it on all flights in 1994.

Today, while smoking is not allowed in an aircraft cabin or bathroom, there still is an interesting remnant of the old smoker days.

If you go into a lavatory in an airplane, you might still see an ashtray attached to the door.

It’s always confused me because just above that ashtray you usually find a no smoking sign.

So what exactly is going on?

These are reportedly still placed there so that if someone does violate a no smoking rule, they have the ability to put out the cigarette in a way that will not be harmful to the plane (e.g., cause a fire).

Airline bathroom ashtray

What happens if you get caught smoking on a plane?

If you get caught smoking on a plane, you could be fined or something more severe could happen. For example, you could cause the plane to be diverted to a different destination.

Not only would that draw the ire of every other passenger in the aircraft and potentially make national news, but you could also be arrested and even imprisoned when you land. The airline might even sue you.

Smoking on a plane is just not worth it no matter how big of a craving that you get.

And just in case you were wondering, there are smoke alarms in the plane bathrooms.

This is why if you are a smoker, it’s a good idea to look into the designated smoking areas at airports, so that you might be able to reduce your craving on the flight.

International flights and cigarettes

Like most policies, things can be a little different when you travel internationally with cigarettes.

Here are a few things you need to consider when traveling with cigarettes internationally.

Laws in foreign countries

When heading out to a different country from the US, your first concern should be whether or not the country has a strict policy against tobacco products.

For example, a small number of countries have strict laws and some like Bhutan have even completely outlawed tobacco.

Showing up to Customs with a carton of cigs in a country like Bhutan could be bad news and mean serious jail time.

Even if you can bring tobacco into a country, you should also be well-versed in all of the smoking laws since more spaces are becoming smoke-free and the penalties seem to be getting stiffer.

Countries like Costa Rica are known for strict anti-smoking policies. In places like that, smoking near bus stops and taxi stands can get you in trouble.

US Customs rules

One of the biggest considerations you need to think about when flying back into the US with cigarettes is the quantity that you are going to be bringing in.

You’ll need to make sure you’re up on the latest US Customs rules.

If you are over the age of 21, you can bring in tobacco products but only quantities that don’t exceed the amounts in the personal exemption that you qualify for.

For example, the limits might be “not more than 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars if arriving from other than a beneficiary country and insular possession.” 

If you are returning from certain territories then every 31 days, you can return with higher amounts.

For example, a resident returning from travel from American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or US Virgin may import 1,000 cigarettes (5 cartons) subject to restrictions.

When bringing in tobacco/cigarettes you might also have to pay a Federal excise tax.

The tax will be based on your circumstances but here is a look at some of the rates:

cigarette tax rates

Cuban cigars

If you have got your hands on Cuban cigars you might be wondering about flying with those back into the US.

During the last six years the policies have shifted dramatically.

In 2016, things opened up with Cuba and cigars were allowed to come in as the CBP stated:

On October 17, 2016, the Office of Foreign Asset Control relaxed restrictions so authorized travelers, arriving direct from Cuba, are now able to bring Cuban merchandise for personal use back to the United States and qualify for the U.S. Resident exemption (HTSUS 9804.00.65, which allows up to $800 total in goods, and adults 21 and older may include 1 liter of alcohol, 200 cigarettes, and 100 cigars). 

Former President Trump changed things when he was in office and in 2020 a ban resumed on Cuban cigars.

With a different president in office these policies might change but for now it appears that you are not allowed to bring in Cuban cigars back into the US.

Related: Can You Take Cigars on a Plane?

E-cigarettes

If you’re thinking about traveling with e-cigarettes or vapes, you want to put a special focus on two things: batteries and the liquids rule.

You never want to carry loose lithium-ion batteries in your checked baggage and you may be limited to just two vape batteries for your carry-on.

If you go overboard with vapes or batteries you may be calling attention to yourself which could lead to a closer inspection of your items.

Finally, consider that if you are bringing special pods or packs that contain liquid vape you need to comply with the liquids rule.

We’ve created a detailed guide for flying with e-cigarettes that you should check out if you have any lingering questions.

Marijuana

If you are a marijuana smoker things are a lot different since you need to consider the legality of marijuana. Flying with marijuana is not so straightforward even in areas that have legalized it.

Luckily, we have also put together a very detailed and thorough guide on how to get to the airport with marijuana.

You can see a checklist to look at in order to avoid trouble at the airport and also get tips and suggestions on how to best travel with marijuana through airport security and in your luggage.

Lighters and matches

Lighters are also allowed on planes but there are some specific rules on bringing them as well.

According to the FAA, when traveling on a commercial airline you can bring one lighter that uses a flammable gas (butane) or that uses a flammable liquid that is absorbed in a lining (Zippo-type of lighter).

You are allowed to bring disposable and Zippo lighters without fuel in checked bags but there must be no traces of fuel or vapor inside the lighters. 

Those are the rules in a nutshell but you might want to read the guide below for more details.

Related: TSA Rules for Bringing Lighters on Planes

lighter getting lit

Chewing tobacco

Chewing tobacco, snuff, or “smokeless tobacco” is also allowed by TSA.

You are also allowed to bring in tobacco pipes in your carry-on and check-in bags. Just be aware that paraphernalia such as weed pipes could be detected by TSA and confiscated although that is not a focus of TSA.

Final word

As you can tell when flying on a typical domestic flight you can bring cigarettes with you in your carry-on or checked baggage without any problems.

However, you need to be careful when flying internationally because there are quantity limits you will need to consider and some countries have very strict policies against tobacco.

If you were thinking about bringing in other types of tobacco such as e-cigarettes or vapes then you need to brush up on the rules for those as well.

Do Hotels Know If You Vape? What Happens If They Find Out?

Are you thinking about vaping in a hotel room but not sure if that might get you into hot water with the hotel or perhaps even the law?

In this article, I’ll take a detailed look at whether or not hotels will know if you have been vaping in your room.

I’ll cover a few different ways that they can tell if you are vaping and give you some factors to consider before you choose to violate a hotel’s policy on vaping.

General advice on vaping in hotels

As vaping has become more popular, more businesses including hotels, are lumping vaping with smoking in terms of their policies on prohibiting them.

Sometimes this is done explicitly but other times it is implicit. If you are ever in doubt you can simply call the hotel and inquire about their vaping policy or ask the front desk.

There is a lot of debate on whether or not vaping should be lumped in with smoking considering how different they can be depending on the substance.

However, a lot of hotels and localities just are not interested in taking a super nuanced approach into the matter and so you can expect smoking and vaping to be considered the same.

This is important because a lot of hotels have no smoking policies. Or, if they do allow smoking it is only in certain rooms or in certain areas of the hotel such as an outdoor patio or deck.

Nevertheless, because vaping is not detected as easily as smoking a lot of people still choose to vape in their hotel room even when the hotel has a policy against it.

So what could happen if you did choose to break the rules? Is it possible for a hotel to know that you have vaped? Let’s take a look.

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How hotels can know you have been vaping

Smell

A lot of vapes are odorless and so unlike smoking, they typically are not detectable by scent alone.

Even some vapes that do have a scent do not necessarily scream “vape sent.”

So if the hotel is going to catch you vaping it’s usually not by smell.

However, if you were vaping non-odorless marijuana, that has one of the most recognizable odors and could possibly be detected.

A fresh rip of a vape containing THC or even CBD could definitely be detected by someone who knows the smell, especially if there is dry herb involved.

Related: Can You Smoke Weed in a Hotel Room?

Visually

If you’ve been hitting your vape pretty hard there’s a good chance you have vape clouds visible in your hotel room. All it takes is one surprise visit by a staff member for them to figure out that you were vaping in your room.

For example, some hotels send someone to check on you shortly after check-in or to bring you a gift and these people often arrive unexpectedly.

Another situation is you may have forgotten that you requested extra towels, ordered water bottles, etc.

The point is that you can tell if someone has been vaping just by using your eyes in some cases and it’s not always easy to predict when a hotel staff member will come knocking on your door.

Also, if you are vaping close to your check-out time your clouds could linger by the time the cleaning crew comes in.

Related: TSA Rules for Vapes and e-Cigarettes

Smoke detectors

Hotels are required to have smoke detectors so that they can prevent catastrophic outcomes from fires. In a hotel room you may find multiple smoke detectors depending on the size of the room/suite.

They usually can be anywhere except the bathroom (because the steam from the shower can set them off).

There are different types of smoke detectors and they typically work by sensing small particles in the air which could indicate smoke from a fire.

Ionization detectors produce a small electric current flowing from one plate to the other. When enough particles enter the chamber and reduce the current below a certain amount, the alarm will sound.

Photoelectric alarms work by detecting light that is reflected off particles from a light beam inside the sensing chamber. These are said to be the most common smoke alarms found in hotels although that might vary by location.

There is also something called a heat alarm that detects temperature in a room as an indication of smoke or a fire. These are not very common and you probably will not encounter them in a hotel unless your hotel has a kitchen as that is where they are normally used.

But can these traditional smoke alarms detect vapes? The answer is yes, but only sometimes.

In a typical scenario, you probably need a lot of vape clouds and you also need to be close to the smoke alarm in order to trigger it.

A simple hit or two from a small vape pen is not likely to trigger a smoke alarm unless you are blowing the vape very close to the alarm device or you have a powerful vape capable of producing huge clouds.

But if you are a chain vaping and forming clouds that are filling up the room, even if you are quite a bit of distance away from the smoke alarm, you could still trigger it.

Of course, other factors will come in to play like open windows, fans, AC vents, etc.

If you’re dealing with the heat alarm vapes typically do not emit high temperature vapor and so the risk of you triggering a heat alarm is probably pretty low.

I’ve seen mixed reports about which type of smoke alarm is more sensitive to vape: photoelectric or ionization.

Regardless of which one is more sensitive, it’s worth noting that some fire alarms are simply programmed to be more sensitive than others. And sometimes the range of that sensitivity can be pretty dramatic.

This is what makes vaping in a hotel room truly risky — you never know how sensitive that device is going to be.

Related: TSA Marijuana Rules Explained (Flying with Weed)

Alarms that detect vapes

There are new alarms getting installed that do detect vapes.

It seems that the focus for these alarms is usually at schools and universities where younger people might be engaged in vaping.

But that doesn’t mean that some hotels might not be interested in installing them in the future.

It’s probably rare that you would encounter these at this point but I’d wager that these alarms are probably an order of magnitude more sensitive to vape than traditional smoke alarms.

So if you do run into one of these, they might be significantly more sensitive than smoke alarms you’ve dealt with in the past, making it much more likely that you will get caught by the hotel.

Avoiding getting caught and knowing the risks

My personal advice would be to just abide by the rules set out by hotels when it comes to smoking and vaping.

Nevertheless, I know some people will still try to get away with vaping.

If you are going to risk it I think you should at least be aware of the risks that you are facing when doing so and I’m going to talk about some of those below.

Turning off the alarm

Removing or turning off a smoke alarm in a hotel room is a pretty horrible idea.

Not only is there the obvious safety risk to yourself and other guests but lots of hotels have sophisticated systems that will alert them that a smoke alarm has been disabled.

In some cases, this could be a silent alert so you wouldn’t even know that it’s going on.

They may be able to see exactly what was disabled and where.

You could be kicking back in your hotel room enjoying your vape while an entire crew is headed to your room to investigate the issue or potentially even perform some sort of rescue.

Not only will you end up in an embarrassing situation but you could be fined or as you’ll see below, forced to serve jail time for tampering with a fire alarm.

Covering the smoke alarm

Another tactic that some people resort to is covering up the smoke alarm.

People resort to various methods to do this but they include taking something like a shower cap and covering up the smoke alarm. Others might use a grocery bag with a rubber band. The methods are pretty much endless.

This is a bad idea because you are tampering with a smoke alarm which could be a crime depending on where you are.

For example, take a look at the California Penal Code which states:

148.4. (a) Any person who does any of the following is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail, not exceeding one year, or by a fine, not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment:

(1) Willfully and maliciously tampers with, molests, injures, or breaks any fire protection equipment, fire protection installation, fire alarm apparatus, wire, or signal.

(2) Willfully and maliciously sends, gives, transmits, or sounds any false alarm of fire, by means of any fire alarm system or signal or by any other means or methods.

(b) Any person who willfully and maliciously sends, gives, transmits, or sounds any false alarm of fire, by means of any fire alarm system or signal, or by any other means or methods, is guilty of a felony and upon conviction is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 or by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, if any person sustains as a result thereof, any of the following:

(1) Great bodily injury.

(2) Death.

The law firm website linked above specifically mentions messing with a “smoke detector” as an example so I don’t think this statute would only apply to fire alarms.

So you could literally spend up to a year in jail for willfully and maliciously tampering with the fire alarm. And if you set off a chain of events that resulted in someone getting hurt really bad or killed, you could also be guilty of a felony.

Another reason not to do it is it could be very easy to forget that you covered the smoke alarm and therefore you could be putting yourself and everyone else staying at that hotel in danger.

And remember those unexpected visits from hotel staff, you never know when someone might approach your room.

There are some reports that some alarms can now detect if they are covered although I’m not sure about that.

But the takeaway here is that tampering with a fire alarm is just a horrible idea that could land you in jail or with a hefty fine.

The shower steam method

One popular method that people resort to when trying to vape without detection is to turn on the hot shower in the bathroom.

They let it run for several minutes and then vape in the bathroom so that their vapor is essentially masked by the hot water vapor from the shower.

I don’t think many people argue that this is not an effective method but there is one major problem with this. Unless you are in the process of taking a shower, it really is an incredible waste of energy and water. This is especially true if you are living in areas experiencing drought.

Air quality

Another thing to consider is that you could be contributing to indoor air pollution and affecting the air quality for other guests.

Some of the chemicals from your vape may even land on furniture that future guests will be coming into contact with. These people may even have a certain sensitivities that you could be triggering. Remember, many hotels do not wash the bedding between stays.

Vaping from the balcony

If your hotel room is smoke-free that includes the balcony. So vaping from a balcony would be a violation.

Realistically though, unless someone has direct sight of you vaping, it’s pretty much impossible for someone to know that you were vaping in an outdoor balcony.

If it’s at night and you have a good amount of privacy on your balcony, your chances of getting caught would be extremely low.

This would probably be the safest way to “break the rules” since you don’t have to tamper with a smoke alarm, risk contaminating your room, or get wasteful with water and heat.

What happens if you get caught?

If you get caught vaping in a hotel room the most likely outcome would be you getting hit with a cleaning fee. This fee could easily be $200 to $300.

In the more extreme case, such as you causing a significant amount of damage to the hotel room, a property might decide to charge you for the damage and ban you.

If you have been tampering with the smoke alarm and it is illegal to do that where you are, it’s possible you could be faced with criminal charges.

There may also be some type of fine involved if the statute permits or if you forced emergency services to mobilize due to the alarm.

Final word

Hotels often treat vaping like smoking which means that if the hotel allows you to smoke you probably can vape in there as well.

However, a lot of hotels prohibit smoking which means that they will not allow you to vape in your hotel room.

It’s entirely possible to vape in a hotel room without being detected in a lot of cases.

Most smoke alarms probably will not be triggered unless you are vaping heavy amounts or are close to them. There is usually a lack of odor and it’s just not very difficult to be discreet with a vape.

With that said, anytime you enter a public area you need to consider how your actions may affect others.

Whether it be contributing to indoor air pollution, wasting resources trying to mask your vape clouds, or tampering with fire alarms, trying to conceal your vaping can have negative consequences on other people.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself if you are someone who wants to put your vaping needs above the safety and health needs of others.

Can You Smoke Weed in a Hotel Room? [2022]

So you want to smoke weed in your hotel room?

Well, you most likely are going to face and uphill battle for a few reasons. You’ll have to deal with marijuana laws and no-smoking hotel policies but there may be some instances where it is okay (and even encouraged) to smoke at your hotel.

Below, I’ll break down everything you want to consider before you think about firing up some MJ at a hotel.

Can you smoke weed in a hotel room?

You cannot smoke weed in many hotel rooms because it is against the law and/or there are policies against smoking in rooms. However, there are some occasions where you will be able to smoke weed in your hotel room and there are even some hotels that encourage marijuana consumption. Keep reading below for more details!

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The law

It’s no secret that possession of marijuana is illegal in many states in the US. In the West and Northeast, you can find a lot of states where marijuana is legal but in the South and Midwest it is still illegal in the majority of states.

A lot of states have lessened the penalties for getting caught with marijuana and have basically decriminalized it so that you may only get hit with a fine if caught with it in reasonable (small) amounts.

But there are still plenty of states that will take you directly to jail if you’re caught with even small amounts.

Even if you are in a state that has completely legalized marijuana, remember that there is probably a ban or limitation on consuming it in public. For example, in Arizona weed is legal but based on the law you cannot use it in public places.

That includes “hotel and motel common areas” which would include hotel lobbies and even outdoor areas surrounding the hotel.

Hotel rooms are somewhat on par with a private residence in terms of an expectation of privacy (which is why cameras in hotel rooms are not allowed).

So I don’t think a law banning marijuana consumption in a public place would apply to marijuana consumption in a hotel room, although there could be separate laws banning any smoking in hotel rooms.

This means that if recreational marijuana is legal where you are and the law/hotel allows you to smoke in your room, you MAY not encounter any issues smoking in your hotel room or on a private balcony.

Just remember, a private hotel could always decide they do not want to allow marijuana smoking.

So to make sure you are in the clear to smoke, here are the questions you need to ask:

  • Is recreational marijuana use legal where the hotel is located?
  • Does the local law allow you to smoke in a hotel room?
  • Does the hotel allow you to smoke in that particular hotel room?

If the answer to all three questions is yes there is a high likelihood you can smoke weed in your hotel room without a problem but you still may want to verify that with the hotel.

NOTE: That is not a legal opinion and you should consult an attorney to get clarification for your specific circumstances.

The federal stance

Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level.

According to the DEA, “Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.”

Marijuana being illegal at the federal level is more relevant to flying with marijuana on a plane or going through an airport but it is still something to consider when staying at hotels and crossing state lines.

Take-a-way: Smoking weed in many states is still illegal. In states that have legalized marijuana, you still likely cannot smoke it in hotel common areas but smoking in your room may be permissible.

Hotel concerns with smoking weed

Hotel policies

Even if you are in a state that has legalized marijuana, the hotel may have a no smoking policy. For example, Marriott is known for its no smoking policy across all of its properties.

Some hotels may offer special rooms designated for smokers but others will completely outlaw it. At the time of booking and usually at check-in, the smoking policy is made pretty clear.

So if you attempt to smoke weed in some hotel rooms you could be violating the hotel’s policy and that could result in a fee or potentially them asking you to leave.

Fire alarms

Smoking weed in a hotel room could be a problem because it’s possible you could set off the hotel’s fire alarm. If the hotel has banned smoking in your room, that could obviously get you in trouble with the hotel and possibly fined.

Some hotel guests will tamper with the fire alarm in order to avoid detection but this can be very unwise.

First, assuming you were able to disable the fire alarm (without breaking it or causing it to go off) it’s possible that someone within the hotel will receive a notification that the fire alarm has been disabled.

They would most likely come visit your room and potentially bust you in the middle of partaking in your ganja. And even if you had not started smoking yet, they might determine that you intentionally disabled the fire alarm and could kick you out of the hotel, likely with no refund.

Some guests resort to less risky options like covering the alarm up with a sock, shower cap, etc. The problem with doing this is that you might forget that you covered up the fire alarm and that could potentially get you caught or worse: cause the fire alarm to not detect a real emergency.

If any damage or injury can be traced back to you tampering with the fire alarm, you could be liable so this is something you don’t want to risk.

Smoking odors

The other issue is with smoking in a hotel room is that you could leave a lingering scent in the hotel room.

Because the scent of burning flower is so strong, it’s really easy to get caught smoking weed in a hotel.

Even if you were smoking in the bathroom with a steam shower running (which is a waste of water/energy), hotel housekeeping could enter your room after you leave and detect the smell if you didn’t time things right.

Some hotels will charge you a pretty expensive cleaning fee of a couple of hundred dollars if you leave behind such a strong odor.

Also, marijuana can have an extremely potent scent that could easily escape your hotel room into the hallway and be detected, even when you are blowing your smoke out the window.

Many guests would find the scent offensive and would be unhappy about being forced to smell it. Hotels don’t want to make guests unhappy and so they would not hesitate to ask you to leave for the sake of other guests.

Take-a-way: A lot of hotels do not allow any type of smoking in hotel rooms. Trying to get around these rules by tampering with fire alarms could get you kicked out the hotel or in legal trouble. Also, strong odors from smoking weed in a hotel room can be easily detected.

Vaping

Vaping has exploded in popularity over the past few years and so it’s no surprise that many people will resort to vaping in a hotel room.

Most hotels I’ve seen only explicitly mention a ban on smoking and not vaping. But if you were to inquire with the front desk, I would imagine that many hotels would lump vaping in with smoking and therefore not allow vaping.

In terms of marijuana, some vaping mechanisms will not produce any “marijuana scent” which makes them hard to detect.

But contrary to what many people believe, you can set off fire alarms when vaping.

Someone vaping cannabis is probably not going to be hitting the vape as much as someone vaping nicotine. So unless you are on Snoop Dogg’s level, the cloud from a marijuana vape may not be a major concern.

Still, if you are vaping in a hotel room close to a fire alarm there is a risk that you could set it off.

Also, be aware that laws that prohibit smoking in hotel rooms likely will also include vaping.

Related: TSA Rules for Vapes and e-Cigarettes

Take-a-way: While vaping may not be explicitly banned at hotels, some properties will consider vaping to be the same as smoking. In addition, vaping can set off fire alarms in some instances so it is best to use caution when deciding to vape marijuana in a hotel room.

Medical marijuana and hotels

If you have a medical marijuana license, things are a bit complicated.

In the best case scenario, you would be allowed to smoke marijuana in any “smoking room” without issue.

But some hotels worry about things like guests being disturbed by the smell of marijuana or even calling the police about the marijuana use.

So to avoid any issues and to get clarification on what exactly is permitted, I would call ahead of time and inquire with the hotel about what you will be allowed to do as a medical marijuana cardholder.

If you are staying in a state that has legalized medical marijuana, you stand a higher chance of being allowed to consume it in your room. But if you are traveling to a state that does not recognize medical marijuana they probably will not allow you to use it at all.

CBD is another interesting substance.

CBD is the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana so consuming it does not get you “high” (although some people have reported alteration of some type when consuming it).

Some states that outlaw THC will allow you to carry around the CBD with no problem. Other states may require you to have some sort of medical condition in order to have CBD (which is pretty insane in my opinion).

A lot of times CBD is consumed in a tincture, oil, or some type of cream or edible and none of those should present issues to a hotel since they are discreetly consumed. If you are smoking CBD or vaping it then you will need to be conscious about the smoking policies mentioned above.

Take-a-way: Medical marijuana can still be a bit of a gray area so it is best to contact the hotel ahead of time and inquire about what is acceptable if you plan on smoking medical marijuana. Consuming CBD is usually less of an issue but you should still be aware of laws or policies that apply.

420 friendly hotels

A lot of marijuana fans will be happy to find out that hotels are starting to jump on the 420 bandwagon.

There’s actually a movement of “420 friendly” hotels which are hotels that cater to people who want to enjoy cannabis while traveling.

These hotels, which include some pretty high-end hotels like the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, make it easy for you to consume cannabis by offering edibles, vapes, etc.

You may not be able to smoke in the hotel rooms but some of the hotels may have designated areas with better filtration systems and allow smoking.

At the very least, you will find it easier and more comfortable to consume your marijuana at the hotel while relaxing in amenities like rooftop pools and possibly partaking in THC-infused culinary events.

Some of these hotels like the Clarendon Hotel and Spa in downtown Phoenix will also help you make your way to and from a dispensary.

Smoking weed in hotels FAQ

Can you get kicked out of a hotel for smoking weed?

Yes, a hotel can kick you out of the hotel for smoking weed. If there are laws against smoking or possessing cannabis, you could also get into legal trouble.

Can you smoke weed in a hotel if you have a medical marijuana license?

Some hotels may allow you to smoke weed if you have a medical marijuana license but other hotels may ban all smoking.

Can a marijuana vape set off the hotel fire alarm?

Yes, if you are vaping close enough to the fire alarm, vapor from marijuana can trigger the alarm.

Are you allowed to disable to hotel room fire alarm?

No, disabling a hotel room fire alarm is not a good idea and some hotels even have networks that allow them to detect when a guest has disabled a fire alarm.

Is CBD allowed in hotel rooms?

CBD is legal in many states and is generally not an issue in hotel rooms unless you are smoking or vaping it.

Are there marijuana friendly hotels?

Yes, there is a growing trend of hotels that cater to people who want to consume cannabis while staying at their hotels.

Final word

Smoking weed in a hotel room can be tricky because it could be against the law or at least against the policy of the hotel. With that said, there are some instances where you might be allowed to smoke in your room and there are even some hotels that encourage cannabis consumption.