Thief Steals Weed From 'Cannabis Amnesty Box' At Midway: Police

CHICAGO — Less than three weeks after they were introduced in Chicago airports, a thief has targeted bins meant to be used for disposing of marijuana, police said.

Detectives are looking for a man who removed the contents of a "cannabis amnesty box" at Midway International Airport Monday.

Someone reached into one of the boxes around 6 p.m. Monday and took an "unknown object" from inside, according to police.

The Chicago Department of Aviation installed 12 of the boxes earlier this month after the Illinois law legalizing the possession of under 30 grams of marijuana took effect.

Police and Transportation Security Administration officials have said they will not penalize people found with amounts of cannabis legal under state law who toss cannabis discovered during security screening.

The bright blue receptacles, located at the end of TSA checkpoints, offer travelers an opportunity to avoid breaking federal laws prohibiting travel across state lines with weed.

Anthony Gugliemi, chief communications officer for Chicago police, said in a statement that it is a crime to tamper with the amnesty boxes or try to remove anything from inside.

"In the meantime, new, permanent theft prevention boxes are expected to replace the temporary ones in the coming weeks, making them more secure and preventing anyone from further accessing materials dropped inside," he said.

The stolen marijuana had been found during the screening of a departing passenger, who was allowed to discard it into the amnesty box and leave, a source told WMAQ. Surveillance video subsequently showed an unidentified man grabbing the weed and hurrying out of the airport, according to police.

Similar amnesty boxes have been placed in airports in Colorado and Las Vegas, according to USA Today. In 2017, law enforcement officials in the Aspen area told local news website Westword the boxes were sometimes left several days without being checked, with officers encountering garbage such as curdled coffee drinks and dirty diapers.

"Maybe," Pitkin County Undersheriff Ron Ryan said, "we should put a dirty-diaper amnesty box next to the marijuana-amnesty box."