Canada to press U.S. on 'ludicrous' marijuana border policy

[jct74]

Canada to press U.S. on 'ludicrous' marijuana border policy

By Andrea Hopkins
Sep 9, 2016

Canada will push the United States to change a border policy that has banned Canadians who admit to having used marijuana from travel to the United States, given Canada's plans to legalize pot, a government spokesman said on Friday.

The case of a Canadian man barred from U.S. travel because he admitted to having smoked pot recreationally has sparked a debate about U.S. border agents using a federal law against marijuana use, even though pot use is legal in several states and soon to be legal in Canada.

"We obviously need to intensify our discussions with our border authorities in the United States, including the Department of Homeland Security," Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp late on Thursday.

"This does seem to be a ludicrous situation," he said, noting that marijuana is legal in Washington state as well as "three or four other jurisdictions in the United States."

A spokesman said on Friday that while the Canadian government has been speaking with the U.S. government to ensure officials are aware of Canada's plans to legalize marijuana, the controversy over Canadians being stopped at the border and banned from future travel has not been addressed.

...

read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-usa-marijuana-idUSKCN11F2HB

[Danke]

Lol, Canada. They don't believe in free speech.

[RJ Liberty]

stopped at the border and banned from future travel

Holy shit! So if they admit to using marijuana, they're also banned from future travels to the US?!

...Our federal gov is so fucked up... :eek:

[jct74]

Have you ever smoked weed? Answer this question and you could be banned from the U.S.
Legal medical marijuana user travelling to Washington state, where pot is legal, is banned from U.S. for life

By Peter Zimonjic, Julie Van Dusen
Sep 08, 2016

Matthew Harvey wants to take his three-year-old daughter Lika to Disneyland in California, but after being banned from the United States for the rest of his life, that task isn't going to be easy.

Harvey has not been excluded for having a criminal record, or for trying to smuggle drugs into the U.S. He's being punished for providing a seemingly harmless answer to a question posed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service.

"They said that I was inadmissible because I admitted to smoking marijuana after the age of 18 and before I'd received my medical marijuana licence," he said.

"Of course I'd smoked marijuana, Canada didn't even have a program back then. I smoked marijuana recreationally. I guess I should have basically lied because now I am inadmissible apparently," he added.

...

For the rest of his life, Harvey must now apply for advance permission to enter the U.S. as a non-immigrant. The travel waiver, which costs $585 US ($750 Cdn), is granted on a discretionary basis, which means it may be good for a year, or two, or five, depending on the discretion of the approval officer.

When the waiver expires, Harvey will have to apply again and pay the fee, again, which is going up to $930 US ($1,200 Cdn) later this year.

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read more:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pot-border-banned-waiver-1.3752278