[IP] Re U.S. official: Canadian marijuana users, workers and investors risk lifetime border ban

[Dave Farber]

Date: September 15, 2018 at 12:39:56 GMT+9
Subject: Re: [IP] U.S. official: Canadian marijuana users, workers and investors risk lifetime border ban
(for IP, natch)
A few points are worth adding here.
The $585 ban waiver fee is, I assume, just the portion payable to
Uncle Sam. If that's the case, it's safe to assume that having a
specialist (i.e.lawyer) prepare the application will be a significant
additional cost. Plus, that doesn't get you a lifetime waiver of a
lifetime ban - it's only good for a year.
Are you an investor in any marijuana-related enterprise? It's quite
possible that one can't honestly answer that question. In the last
couple of years the rise of well-financed big-league pot growers in
Canada has been meteoric, as in: There are publicly-traded canuck
companies (e.g. Canopy and Aurora) *now* operating that have
multi-BILLION-dollar market caps, and it's still a month before the
legalization kicks in. (There has, of course, been a busy medical-
prescription market in operation for years.) Regardless of how
severely overvalued these companies are - and most think there
will be a significant shakeout in the next 18 months - the present
valuations make them very attractive stocks for mutual funds. So
if you have money in such funds, the answer to "Have you invested
in any marijuana-related enterprise" could be "I don't know."
Then, of course, there's the dysfunction that's going to occur along
the world's longest undefended border. Pot: Legal in Washington
State, legal (in a few weeks) in British Columbia, but a criminal
offense to carry your legally-permitted personal quantity in *either*
direction over the border between (the Canadian legislation does
not allow for the importation of any quantity for personal use). And
Vermont is legal now too, no? If so, same situation between there
and Quebec.
Unfortunately, this isn't going to get better anytime soon. Even
after SCROTUS is impeached, does anyone think that the present
veep is going to take the progressive road? I think not, and that, if
anything, visions of Reefer Madness dance in his head.
Jonathan

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[Dave Farber]

Date: September 15, 2018 at 12:49:30 GMT+9
Subject: Re: [IP] U.S. official: Canadian marijuana users, workers and investors risk lifetime border ban
Dave, pl remove my name...(I rarely ask this)
Q. If other countries don't recognize sale of firearms to the general public as a legitimate industry, is that then reciprocal grounds for bans against legal in US jobs?
Every nation has sovereign rights to it's own rules. Borders become tricky.

Date: September 14, 2018 at 8:45:42 PM GMT+9
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] U.S. official: Canadian marijuana users, workers and investors risk lifetime border ban
U.S. official: Canadian marijuana users, workers and investors risk lifetime border ban
By LUIZA CH. SAVAGE
Sep 13 2018
<https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/13/canada-weed-pot-border-783260>
Canadians who work in the marijuana industry — and those who invest in the booming pot sector — risk a lifetime ban on travel to the U.S., according to a senior official overseeing U.S border operations.
As Canada prepares to become the world’s only major industrialized nation to legalize retail marijuana sales starting Oct. 17, the Canadian cannabis sector is projected to generate billions of dollars of revenue in coming years and Canadians have flocked to take jobs and buy stocks in the burgeoning industry. But the move has potential to disrupt border crossings between the U.S. and Canada for travelers who run afoul of American drug laws, even if their activities are legal in Canada.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will continue to apply long-standing U.S. federal laws and regulations that treat marijuana as a banned substance — and participants in the cannabis industry as drug traffickers — who are inadmissible into the U.S. Although some U.S. states have eased marijuana laws, the U.S. continues to maintain a federal prohibition that applies at the border, said Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner for the Office of Field Operations, who gave POLITICO a detailed preview of how CBP will apply longstanding rules.
Here’s exactly how it would work at the border: CBP officials are not planning to go out of their way to interrogate every Canadian traveler about marijuana use. However, other factors may cause them to raise the topic.
“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. Likewise, marijuana residue, which can linger for weeks inside a car, could be detected by CBP inspection dogs and lead to further questioning, he noted. If asked about past drug use, travelers should not lie, he said. “If you lie about it, that’s fraud and misrepresentation, which carries a lifetime ban,” Owen said.
If a traveler admits to past use of any illegal drugs, including marijuana, the traveler will be found to be inadmissible into the United States. CBP typically will allow them the opportunity to “voluntary withdraw” from the border — or face an “expedited removal.” Whether or not the traveler enters the U.S., a record will be kept by CBP and that traveler will not be allowed to return to the U.S. The traveler will have the opportunity to apply for a waiver from a lifetime ban, which costs U.S. $585 and requires several months to process. The waivers are issued at the discretion of CBP.
CBP agents commonly ask travelers what they do for a living. Canadians who work in the marijuana industry will not be permitted to enter the U.S. “If you work for the industry, that is grounds for inadmissibility,” Owen said.
Likewise, investors in marijuana companies are considered inadmissible. “We don’t recognize that as a legal business,” Owen said. Already, marijuana investors from other countries, such as Israel, have been denied entry into the U.S., he noted. CBP did not specify any minimum level of investment that could trigger a ban.
“Facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in U.S. states where it is deemed legal or Canada may affect an individual’s admissibility to the U.S.,” Owen said.
Marijuana use could be particularly risky for professionals whose livelihoods depend on trusted traveler programs such as NEXUS to enable frequent and fast crossings into the U.S., such as truck drivers or Canadian nurses who work in U.S. hospitals. CBP has been alerting trucking associations in Canada that drivers will lose their NEXUS privileges because of marijuana use.
The criteria for inadmissibility to the United States are laid out in Section 212 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. The statute lists criteria that make foreigners ineligible to receive visas and ineligible to be admitted into the U.S. These include anyone “who is determined to be a drug abuser or addict,” as well as anyone who “is or has been an illicit trafficker in any controlled substance,” or who has assisted in trafficking, or obtained financial benefit from the activity.
[snip]
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