Canadians in Cannabis Industry Concerned Over Increased U.S. Border Stops and Travel Bans
It’s not just smokers anymore: Border officers are targeting cannabis business executives and employees too.
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July 10, 2018
Eric Sandy
Business and finance Canada Grower/Agriculture International News Politics
For years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have been given the discretion to quiz incoming Canadian citizens about their past marijuana use. As a Schedule-I substance, of course, marijuana use remains federally illegal in the U.S.
Anecdotes litter the websites of major news organizations: People
who say they’ve
smoked marijuana in the past
have often been barred from entering the U.S., in some cases forever.
Canada’s marijuana legalization law is expected to go into effect mid-October.
According to a 2018 CBC News report, as much as 40 percent of the Canadian adult population may purchase and use legal marijuana. That translates to a major problem at the border, if CBP questioning continues apace.
Len Saunders, an immigration attorney in Blaine, Wash., says that the problem not only persists—but that this particular brand of border patrol is becoming more focused, more intense. He testified before a Canadian Senate committee on March 19: “When Trump talks about building a wall on the southern border, I see a wall on the northern border for Canadians because of marijuana,” he said.
Nowadays, it’s not only cannabis users who are getting caught up in border disputes. Saunders says the entire cannabis business class of Canada could be detained and questioned—and possibly barred from the U.S. for life.
“It used to be the marijuana-related cases were almost always someone who admitted to smoking it,” Saunders tells
Cannabis Business Times. “Within the last six months, I’ve seen a huge uptick on people who work for or own a marijuana-related business.”
He points, by way of example, to venture capital companies in Canada that have begun pouring investments into U.S. cannabis companies. With only nine states having passed legal adult-use cannabis laws so far, the market remains fragmented. Access to capital is limited at best, and, with no formal path to domestic stock exchanges or small business loans, foreign investment is often a tentpole financial strategy for legal U.S. cannabis businesses. Investors across the border in Canada are a prime source of much-needed capital.
And the investment trend isn’t slowing down.
“It’s going to make it worse,” Saunders says. “The Americans know that Canadians are producing it, … [and] it’s going to make Canadian business executives a target.
“When the Americans—the CBP—pick up that these individuals are involved in the marijuana business, even indirectly, they’re denying them for one of two reasons: reason to believe that they’re involved with drug trafficking, which is a legitimate reason for denying them, or they're living off the proceeds of drug money because they're making money,” Saunders says. “They’re indirectly getting paid through the marijuana industry. These are people who don’t grow it, they don’t sell it. They’re merely involved with basically raising money and financing it from Canada.”
The increased pressure is placed on all corners of the cannabis industry—not simply investors who are financing its growth.
The Toronto Star ran an article in early July that detailed one business executive’s experience and subsequent lifetime ban from entering the U.S.
From the newspaper:
"Jay Evans, CEO of agricultural equipment manufacturer Keirton Inc., was crossing into the U.S. in early April along with two employees, both engineers with Nexus passes and spotless criminal records.
"They’d intended to meet with an American company to begin design work on a new machine that would streamline labour costs for cannabis producers.
"'We had not yet designed the product, we had not yet marketed the product and we’d not yet sold the product,' Evans said in an interview.
"During routine questioning, one of the three men mentioned their design would eventually be used in the Canadian cannabis industry, and they were immediately taken into the secondary inspection facility for further scrutiny.
"Keirton is not involved with the production, distribution or sale of cannabis. But because its equipment is explicitly intended to be used by people who are, Evans and his colleagues were told after a six-hour interview they were 'drug traffickers' according to U.S. federal law.
“'The border guard supervisor told me he felt really bad, and felt it wasn’t right, and had a lot of empathy toward us,' Evans said.
"Nevertheless, Evans and his coworkers now have lifetime bans on entering the United States, and must obtain waivers allowing them temporary entry into the country."
Cannabis Business Times has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain records of Canadian citizens being turned away at the U.S. border for these reasons.
“The Americans know that Canadians are producing it, and it’s going to make Canadian business executives a target."
- Len Saunders
U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided this statement to
CBT:
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforces the laws of the United States. Although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. States and Canada, the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana all remain illegal under U.S. federal law. Consequently, crossing with marijuana is prohibited and could potentially result in fines, apprehension, or both.
“CBP is always concerned about criminal activity at our U.S. borders. CBP officers are the nation’s first line of defense, including prevention of illegal importation of narcotics, including marijuana. U.S. federal law prohibits the importation of marijuana and CBP officers will continue to enforce that law.
“CBP works closely with state and local law enforcement partners. If an individual is suspected of driving under the influence, CBP will coordinate response with the proper local authorities.
“CBP officers are highly trained to detect the illegal importation of narcotics. CBP’s mission to prevent this illegal importation will remain unchanged.”
If someone is suspected of working or investing in the cannabis industry (or if he or she admits to doing so), CBP