British Airways ex-flight attendant says 'I'm not safe to fly' after sneaking drugs onto plane

An ex British Airways cabin crew hostess admits she was so addicted to that she smoked before flying - even sneaking the drug onto a US flight.

Megan West, from the Isle of Wight, would smoke marijuana before her long haul flights as a , admitting she "wouldn't have been safe to fly" had she been tested at the time. The 34-year-old first smoked a joint in 2012 after graduating university and soon began using weed daily as a way to "calm her thoughts".

But the class B drug soon took over her life as she admits she couldn't go a day without using it, with people close to her eventually noticing her . At the height of her habit, Megan was puffing on five joints a day and forking out around £240 a month on marijuana.

READ MORE:

The former flight attendant even admitted that she once snuck a joint into Miami while travelling.

Megan, from the Isle of Wight, said: "Someone gave me my first joint as I graduated uni. I liked how it calmed my brain, it quietened things down. The weed helped me focus and stopped all the racing thoughts.

"Then I started hanging around with other people who were smoking and lived with people who were smoking, then couldn't imagine not smoking at that point.

"I got to the point where I was able to function [on weed]. I would avoid the people who knew I was smoking and when I was high. In the evening, I would just smoke one after the other. It wouldn't take long between me finishing long and wanting another one already."

Deciding enough was enough, Megan ditched her 12-year cannabis habit for good last year after sharing her issues with family and finding faith in Christianity.

said it had "robust" drug and alcohol policies in place and breaches are taken "very seriously". Now, Megan wants to warn others about the dangers of this seemingly "socially acceptable" drug.

She added: "It just took over my life and became my whole personality. It caused massive issues in my personal life. I would not turn up to work, turn up high on dates and not ring my parents as much because I didn't want them to know I was high.

"I was cabin crew so it was very illegal [to smoke weed]. If I was flying in the evening, I would smoke in the day and try to sleep it off. If they'd ever checked, I'd have definitely not been safe to fly. I can remember once sneaking a joint into Miami, which is so stupid.

"When I landed off the plane and drove home, the first thing I'd do was to have a joint to get me to sleep, then I'd wake up groggy and smoke straight away. The days were kind of rolling into one.

"They never found out I smoked, then I worked in a restaurant and it was a bit easier to smoke."

Within a year, Megan was smoking five joints every day and spending £240 a month on funding her habit, even turning up to friends weddings high.

Megan said: "I felt like I couldn't do anything without having a joint. There was a point where I thought I'd be smoking for the rest of my life."

During the pandemic, Megan moved back home and told her parents about her addiction, which helped "hold her accountable" for her decade-long habit.

Soon after, Megan began attending church and began working as a pilates teacher, deciding to ditch her habit for good last summer.

Megan said: "I started sleeping well again, remembering what had happened the night before, not making silly decisions and just felt happier.

"It may be that weed is 'healthier' in that it's less likely to cause fatalities, but any drug that you can't be without and takes over your life, whether it's less illegal or less dangerous, it's still bad.

"There's less of a stigma with weed than with other drugs. People justify it because it's more 'socially acceptable'. The habit, the lifestyle and the feeling that you get is very addictive."

A British Airways spokesman said: "We have robust drug and alcohol policies in place and fully comply with all regulatory requirements.

"It is a disciplinary offence for any colleague to report for work impaired by either substance and breaches of this policy are taken very seriously."

READ MORE: