A nurse from Texas is no longer allowed on Carnival Cruise ships after she tried to bring CBD gummies with her on a cruise as a sleep aid, Fox 35 reported Wednesday.
When Melinda Erin Van Veldhuizen arrived with her family at Port Miami in August ready for a nice vacation, but things did not go as planned, according to the report.
Carnival Cruise Line issues lifetime ban to Texas mom who brought CBD ‘sleep tight’ gummies on ship https://t.co/Uzp2zm5pZ9 pic.twitter.com/qFaKgFgn6X
— New York Post (@nypost) November 17, 2023
At the terminal, an employee pulled her to the side and asked about the gummies she was carrying. However, the woman said the product did not contain THC. Therefore, she thought it would not cause any issues.
WPLG on Tuesday identified the gummies as MedTerra CBD Gummies Sleep Tight.
“I have a little trouble sleeping so it was just kind of to make sure that I could sleep on the trip,” Veldhuizen told the outlet.
The nurse was eventually escorted off the ship and later got a letter that told her she was banned for life from the cruise line.
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The WPLG report noted CBD is widely available and not illegal in the state of Florida, but every major cruise line does not allow it on their ships.
“CBD is a chemical found in marijuana. CBD doesn’t contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana that produces a high,” according to the Mayo Clinic’s website.
“The usual CBD formulation is oil, but CBD is also sold as an extract, a vaporized liquid and an oil-based capsule. Food, drinks and beauty products are among the many CBD-infused products available online,” the outlet said.
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@matthew_kuhn/LOCAL NEWS X /TMXThe nurse’s lawyer, Daren Stabinski, has since said, “The conditions of carriage specifically say that marijuana, marijuana derivatives, or controlled substances are illegal and are not allowed on the ship. What she had was none of those things.”
He added Carnival officials have told him their team did not do anything wrong. They also claimed Veldhuizen was at fault.
“CBD is still not completely legal under federal law and some port states and Carnival must comply with federal law and the laws of the ports of call the ships visit,” the officials said.
The Sleep Foundation recently reported that taking CBD for sleep has increased in popularity.
“However, the regulation of CBD in the United States is limited, and much more research must be done to determine the exact effects CBD has on sleep and other physical and mental health concerns,” the article said.
