California Postal Clerks Sentenced For Stealing Packages Containing Cannabis

It is illegal to ship marijuana through the US Postal Service (USPS) regardless of which state it comes from or is mailed to. It also goes without saying that it’s illegal for US postal workers to steal the weed from packages they happen to come across it in the mail room. Two former California postal clerks were doing just that.

What happened: Gloria Navarro and Araceli Pardo somehow knew which packages contained marijuana. Instead of reporting the illegal shipments they found in the mail room, for which they would have received a bonus, they took the cannabis home and sold it. When they were finally caught, they were let go from their jobs and sentenced to two years probation and 50 hours of community service, reported Berkeleyside. They entered into plea agreements, admitting to conspiracy to commit mail theft, a federal charge. Meanwhile, a third person is waiting to hear from the judge.

Can Weed Be Shipped Via The US Postal Service?

In a word…no. The issue came up several years ago in Wisconsin when local cops in the town of Geneva posted a photo of three large bags of cannabis on Facebook, asking for the owners to claim the missing package. Of course, the post went viral and no came forward to claimed the cannabis.

Though apparently not uncommon, sending weed though the US mail is a federal crime. This applies even in states where cannabis is legal for medical or recreational use, as federal law supersedes state law, despite the green wave sweeping across the U.S. Other shipping companies are also subject to the same federal regulations. Weed cannot be moved, by any means, across state lines.

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And If I Take My Chances?

If you don’t get busted by the odor, your weed could be discovered by a scanner. UPS and other commercial carriers are permitted to X-ray packages without a warrant and X-ray scanning is routinely used. While the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shipping services use X-ray techniques because the process is considered less intrusive than opening the packages. Hemp, however, can be sent via the mail, which is odd in that hemp can also be intoxicating

A Curious Loophole

Thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill. shipping hemp and its derivatives, like CBD and delta-8 THC, is permitted as long as the products contain no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, the psychoactive chemical in the cannabis plant. Shipping hemp and hemp products is allowed if the shipper complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws. This includes providing necessary documentation confirming that the products being shipped are derived from legally cultivated hemp.

Also, the sender and receiver must both comply with state regulations. In that many states have banned hemp-derived products, it would be wise to be certain before shipping that you have all the proper documentation to prove what you’re mailing is legit.

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