Law-abiding travelers willing to ditch their weed before boarding a plane from Chicago now have a safer way to do it.
Earlier this week, the city rolled out new, permanent “cannabis amnesty boxes” at the end of security checkpoints at O’Hare and Midway airports, according to Chicago police spokeswoman Maggie Huynh.
The new weed boxes are painted green and have a more secure, mailbox-like loading compartment. They are made of metal — and bolted to the floor.
Twelve are installed at O’Hare and one at Midway, according to Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Karen Pride.
The new green boxes replace blue temporary ones installed by the new year.
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They replace temporary blue boxes installed after weed was legalized statewide on Jan. 1. Those were wooden and had a slot on top.
By the end of the month, a traveler at Midway broke into a temporary box and stole weed from inside. Chicago police wouldn’t say if there have been more thefts.
The amnesty boxes were promoted as a safe way for travelers to dispose their weed, since it’s still illegal at the federal level to carry across state lines. Even so, Chicago police and the TSA have said they don’t bust travelers going through security while carrying it legally.
Police declined to say how often people discard marijuana in them.
