Texas Woman Receives Lifetime Ban from Carnival Cruises After Bringing CBD Gummies Onboard

"The captain asked me several times if I had a marijuana card or if I had a diagnosis. I said, ‘It’s CBD; that doesn’t exist. It’s just not a thing,' " Melinda Van Veldhuizen said

A Texas woman received a lifetime ban on Carnival Cruise Line after CBD gummies were found in her luggage during boarding.

Melinda Van Veldhuizen, a 42-year-old nurse practitioner and chiropractor from Dallas, Texas, was planning to celebrate her 21st wedding anniversary and her son’s senior year in high school on Carnival’s Horizon Cruise in August, but things did not go as planned, she told local Miami news station WPLG.

Van Veldhuizen, a frequent cruise passenger, had been trying to get through security at the Port of Miami in August when she was stopped by agents after X-rays detected nail clippers in her suitcase, according to The Washington Post. While searching her bag, agents found CBD gummies and pulled her aside, per the outlet.

Van Veldhuizen told The Washington Post and WPLG that the gummies were sealed and that she brought them onboard to help her sleep, which they were advertised as doing.

“I have trouble sleeping, so it was just to make sure I could sleep on the trip,” Van Veldhuizen told WPLG, which first reported the story. ”I’ve always traveled with them, no problem.”

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She told the news station that she was taken to an area away from her family where she was interrogated by security and police, and had to wait for more than two hours before she was informed that she would not be able to board the cruise.

“The captain asked me several times if I had a marijuana card or if I had a diagnosis, if I needed it. I said, ‘It’s CBD; that doesn’t exist. It’s just not a thing,’ ” she said, adding that her family also opted not to go on the cruise without her.

Soon after, she received a letter from Carnival saying that she was banned from all future cruises with the company. The letter, which she shared with WPLG and The Washington Post, stated: “This decision was based on your actions on the current cruise, which were in violation of ship rules, interfered with the safety and/or enjoyment of other guests on the ship or caused harm to Carnival.”

Daren Stabinski, Van Veldhuizen's South Florida-based attorney, told the newspaper that she was initially informed by the cruise company that she would be responsible for the cost of the cruise fare for her entire family, which totaled about $5,586. However, Carnival eventually offered to reimburse her $1,665 cruise fare.

Stabinski said that his client was seeking an end to her ban as well as a refund for the rest of her family’s fares.

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Carnival did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

A Carnival spokesperson told WPLG in a statement: “We are very sorry this guest and her family are unhappy with the outcome of their vacation plans, but we are following federal law under which CBD is defined as a controlled substance.”

“We are not here to ascertain where our guests purchase CBD or what they intend to use it for once onboard,” the statement continued. “Our responsibility is to follow federal guidelines and stop prohibited items from being brought onboard our ships.”

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CBD, or cannabidiol, is a compound found in marijuana that is not “impairing” and can be derived from hemp or from non-hemp plants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC noted in 2018 that the U.S. Congress passed a law to remove hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act, legalizing CBD if it comes from hemp.

“They should not be treating people like criminals for this,” Stabinski told The Washington Post of his client.

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