Pot disposal boxes installed at Las Vegas airport

McCarran International Airport

If someone purchases legal weed in Las Vegas and has it with him upon arriving to McCarran International Airport, there is now a legal way to dispose of the drug before entering the premises.

The first 13 of a planned 20 marijuana amnesty drop boxes were installed Friday, with 10 bins outside of McCarran and three outside of the McCarran Rent-a-Car Center on Gilespie Street near Warm Springs Road.

Bolted to the ground and only accessible to drop items in, the bins are in high-traffic areas, monitored regularly and serviced multiple times a week.

“The drawer pulls out; you drop your stuff in and you close it. You can’t really get your hand in there,” said Christine Crews, McCarran spokesperson said. “If you start tampering with them, you’d be detected pretty quickly.”

The bins are in response to changing guidelines surrounding weed on airport grounds.

The possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and 1/8 ounce of the THC equivalent of concentrates and edibles was made legal in January, with legal sale and purchase of the drug going live on July 1.

From Jan. 1 to late September, if a person had weed on his person on Department of Aviation grounds and it was discovered by a TSA agent, Metro Police would be called and they would assess the amount.

If they deemed it to be under the allowed amount, the person would be given back their product and were free to go. If it was over the allowed amount they would be arrested for felony possession, Crews said.

With the county ordinance disallowing weed on any airport property going in effect in October, the rules now mirror what they were before legalization.

Metro is called for anyone possessing weed, and if he has under one ounce, he is cited and has the product confiscated. If he has over an ounce of marijuana, he is arrested and charged with a felony.

The remaining seven marijuana amnesty boxes will be placed over the next several months at Henderson Executive Airport, North Las Vegas Airport and among other areas of McCarran where private companies operate.