Even though giving your friends some weed is legal in an increasing number of states, sending it in the mail is not. According to an internal audit conducted in October of 2016, the United States Postal Service reportedly seized 34,000 pounds of cannabis in 2015. How much of that USPS employees kept for themselves is unclear. According to the report, the main objective of the USPS internal audit was to “address allegations regarding postal employees’ handling of packages suspected of containing marijuana at seven post offices in the Capital Metro, Great Lakes, Pacific, and Western areas.”
After the audit and investigation was conducted, the Office of Inspector General recommended that USPS management implement policy for tracking and securing packages that might contain cannabis. In addition, it was recommended that USPS employees be “properly trained on how to handle suspicious packages”.
Many points made throughout the audit were downright hilarious. While they didn’t come right out and say that USPS employees would take the packages, pretty much anyone can read between the lines and see what they’re implying. One part of the report reads, “the tracking should be comprehensive to include initial retrieval from the mail to final disposition and reporting all packages suspected of being lost or stolen and related employee misconduct to the Office of Inspector General.”
The report goes from hilarious to borderline absurd. At one particular post office, USPS management simply could not explain why there was a broken lock on a cage where suspicious packages were being held for further investigation. Several other USPS locations had parcels containing weed left unattended and unsupervised in unlocked management offices. This basically means any employee could stroll into the office and stroll out with a nice free present of some sticky icky.
This report further displays the endless hypocrisy of the continuously failing “war on drugs.” Sending cannabis in the mail could lead to a serious “drug trafficking” conviction, whether you intended to sell it or not. As with every other situation involving legal cannabis, it’s important to be a responsible consumer. Don’t leave your marijuana products out for children or pets to get them and don’t send weed in the mail.
As we continue to see prohibition dissolve and laws changed, we could see it become legal for online cannabis retailers to ship product – similar to alcohol. If wineries and breweries can legally ship their products, why should legal cannabis be any different?
What are your thoughts on sending weed in the mail? Should cannabis consumers be able to send product in legal states via private companies, such as FedEx or UPS?
