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WASHINGTON – People who work, invest in or participate in the legal cannabis sector in Canada will continue to risk a lifetime ban on the US as long as the drug remains a substance controlled by US federal law, according to lawyers – a ban attempted by some producers of American pots change.
US Customs and Border Protection officials will not yet say how many potential visitors to Canada have had a particular contradiction: cannabis is legal for possession, cultivation and sale in a number of US states, but it is still contrary to federal law.
And with legal cannabis barely a month old, a number of Canadians and their lawyers already have first-hand knowledge of the dangers that threaten users, investors and industry workers at the Canada-US border.
"It's a double standard: they do not apply it in states but they do it at the borders," said Len Saunders, a Canadian lawyer in Blaine, Washington, specializing in law. immigration to the United States.
"You can not take a non-interventionist approach with states and allow them to sell it, and at the same time enforce federal laws at the points of entry." It's inconsistent, it's hypocrisy and this creates confusion. "
The US authorities first warned that any Canadian who smelled the pot, whether it was using drugs, working or investing in the industry, could be banned or banned. Entrance. The agency went on to say that workers in the industry would generally be allowed to travel for reasons unrelated to their work.
Saunders said he spoke to a potential traveler who was intercepted last week in Vancouver and is now expelled from the United States because he wanted to visit a cannabis production facility in Las Vegas where he had recently become an investor.
"He's kind of shocked," said Saunders. He said "I did not know anything about it." I said: "Have not you read the news?"
The investor's visit, which was part of a tour organized by his financial advisor, coincided with MJBizCon, a major conference of the cannabis industry, held last week in Las Vegas. A number of travelers to this conference stated that they had been set aside for a secondary check.
The man – Saunders would not reveal his name – told officials that he was only an investor, that he had never used jar and that he would never have tried to travel had he known that the risk existed. Border officials were informed of the Vegas conference and asked to be on the lookout for Canadian travelers, the lawyer said.
At Marigold PR, a Toronto-based marketing and public relations firm with several customers in the cannabis industry, US travel is on hold and cross-border work is done via Skype, FaceTime and other means until the legal landscape changes. clearer, said co-founder Bridget Hoffer.
"We are staying behind and waiting to see what will happen, because there are questions and answers that pose a challenge," Hoffer said. Some cannabis-related US officials have even sent their cell phones and business cards to the United States in advance to avoid border control, she added.
If problems persist, many Canadian companies could end up focusing their international efforts in markets other than the United States, such as Germany, Australia and Latin America, said M Hoffer.
Meanwhile, some US producers are redoubling their efforts to impose an amendment to the federal law, which prevents US companies from accessing capital markets and financial services enjoyed by their Canadian counterparts.
Last month, Derek Peterson, chief executive of Terra Tech Corp., issued a one-page ad in the Wall Street Journal last month to convince President Donald Trump that the federal ban was forcing the company to sell its products. 39 US industry to leave billions of dollars on the table. He is currently producing an advertisement for the US president's favorite media: television.
"We are going to handle this in environments where we think the president and his administration are paying special attention, like" Fox and Friends, "said Peterson.
US officials can not yet say with certainty that there has been a change in the number of people being turned back at the Canada-US border, although anecdotally there has been no change important, said Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Stephanie Malin. The agency hopes to publish more detailed statistics early next month.
"The biggest problem is people who think their slate has been cleaned up," said Henry Chang, Toronto-based immigration lawyer, who warned Canadians of the dangers of the past several months. .
"I think we're going to see more and more people being banned, not because of their marijuana use after October 17, but just because they think they've not got it." nothing to hide and they say that they smoked marijuana at the age of 18. "
– Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle
James McCarten, Canadian Press
