Don’t Fly with the Volcano By: T.A. Sedlak (Author of Anarcho Grow) A few days after Christmas, I had to head to New York from Madison, WI to visit my girlfriend’s family. I recently had a sinus infection, so the Volcano was essential. I’m one of those stoners who’s virtually made a total switch from smoking to vaporizing, anyway. Hell, there’s a Volcano hidden on the cover of my book, Anarcho Grow. I’m no dummy, either. I soaked the machine’s pieces in alcohol before leaving, the press and bag attachments. All spotless. As I waited for my bag to pass through the conveyor belt along with my jacket and shoes, I had no fear. However, I wasn’t surprised when a TSA worker said, “Let’s send it through again. Get another picture.” They’ll take it out. I’ll explain that it’s an herb vaporizer and be on my way, I thought. Wrong. They knew what it was, or had an idea, and searched my bag thoroughly for pot, hoping they could bring a charge. The process was taking long enough that I took a seat nearby. Twenty minutes passed before the TSA worker approached and told me the sheriff had been called. He said something quickly about paraphernalia. Something else I couldn’t make out. “What?” I asked. Again, he spoke quickly. “What?” “Nitro glycerin. It tested positive for it.” “You’re joking?” I said. “I never joke about my job,” he said sternly. I waited uneasily for another twenty minutes before the sheriff arrived. The TSA employee allowed me to pack the rest of the things in my bag while the Volcano and its accoutrements were set aside. Eventually, a short chubby man wearing a crew cut and mustache over oily skin showed. He looked plucked from a stock comedy flick. “What’s this machine?” he asked. “A vaporizer.” “What do you use with it?” “Herbs, chamomile, echinacea…” “What?” he said. “Chamomile and Echinacea.” “Tea?” “The herbs can be used for tea, yes.” He opened my grinder and inspected it. “Pretty clean,” he said. He looked at me. “You got some I.D.” I handed him my license. “You can take a seat over there,” he said, pointing to the chair I’d come to know. I glanced at the clock. My plane was to board in eighteen minutes. Fifteen minutes passed before he returned. He first spoke with a TSA agent. I heard the words “no priors,” and wondered if they’d illegally steal my machine. The cop approached with the Volcano, its attachments, and my I.D. in a gray plastic bin. “Here,” he said. “I’m free to go?” “Yeah, where are you going?” he said. “New York.” “Visiting friends there?” “Something like that.” I’d been harassed by rogues who could legally do nothing. One man had even made a false claim that my luggage tested positive for explosives. All to try to bring a pot charge on me. Though it’s within one’s rights to travel with a clean Volcano, you may want to forgo it to avoid the hassle. TSA employees are after pot heads just as much terrorists. Maybe even more so. *If you like this story, please let me know. I'll be traveling a lot this year to promote my debut novel, Anarcho Grow, and I'm thinking of starting a blog for writing more stories like this. Read the first chapter of Anarcho Grow at www.tasedlak.com
^ lmao anyway no shit youre gonna get harassed tryin to bring a volcano through an airport nowdays.. that thing is quite a contraption they prolly see somethin like that on x-ray and are like WTF is this .. then they take it out and realize its for smokin weed.. and no offense but they mighta racial profiled you a lil too..
I'm white though. So, nothing racist. They just saw me as a dirty stoner they could write a ticket to. Didn't mention in the article that I flew with the Volcano a few years back and didn't face problems.
Hell yeah more stories. I liked what I read of your book too, probably wouldve enjoyed it more if I knew any spanish terminology whatsoever. I'm a gringo . But yeah, would definitely want to see more writing from you
That's exactly how it I had put the Volcano in my hiking pack. I'd wrapped clothes around it to protect it. However, on the way back from NY I removed it from my bag and placed it in its own tray with its accoutrements, like people do with laptops. Figured, at least, my bag wouldn't get an intense search that way. TSA crew at La Guardia said they had to run a quick test on it and had me on my way in less than a minute. Not all TSA employees are rogues, like the ones in Madison. Thanks, La Guardia crew.
Great story but, what's a Volcano? I mean, i know what a Volcano in lava/earth/rock terms is, but what are you talking about? All i know about is Joints, blunts, Bowls and Bongs.... i love bongs... Of course, i was never told much, so im not good on terminology.
A volcano is a vaporizer and one of the most expensive ones too. Basically, instead of setting the weed on fire and inhaling the smoke, a vaporizer heats up the weed just below the point of combustion and vaporizes the active compound. So instead of inhaling tar, you get THC air.
