Canadians who work or invest in the country’s booming marijuana industry risk a lifetime ban on travel to the United States.
The statement, writes POLITICO, came from a ‘senior official’ overseeing U.S. border operations.
The announcement could complicate Canada’s move toward marijuana legalization. Starting on October 17th, the country is set to move its cannabis sector entirely above-ground. The move is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue, prompting stock sales and widespread jobs growth.
But the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says it won’t take Canada’s sovereignty into consideration. Federal law still considers cannabis a banned substance, even though several American states have allowed for its recreational use.
Since the federal government maintains that marijuana is a scheduled drug, its distributors are treated as narcotics traffickers—even if they’re licensed and allowed to operate under Canadian law.
Just like members of al-Qaeda and Mexican drug cartels, marijuana distributors are inadmissible to the United States.
Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner for the CBP’s Office of Field Operations, told POLTIICO that the agency isn’t planning to ‘interrogate every Canadian traveler about marijuana use.’
“Our officers are not going to be asking everyone whether they have used marijuana, but if other questions lead there—or if there is a smell coming from the car, they might ask,” Owen said. Traces of marijuana residue could be cause for detention, too, if they’re detected by drug dogs and correctly identified by their handlers.
