U.S. congressman urges rethink of cannabis rules

Canadians tied to industry could be turned away

Canadians with ties to the cannabis industry have a new champion in the U.S. Congress, and he’s urging the Trump administration not to bar people from entering the States because of their links to the marijuana business.

In fact, California Rep. Luis Correa half-jokingly suggests that trade in cannabis be included in the NAFTA negotiations.

Correa wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen this week, asking for clarification after her department officials said someone who invests in or works for a legal Canadian cannabis firm could be turned back at the border.

Some investors have already been barred.

Correa — a member of the House of Representatives homeland security committee — said in an interview Wednesday he believes American immigration rules are being misapplied, to the detriment of a close friend and neighbour.

“To deny transit to Canadian citizens because they’re involved in what is a lawful business in Canada is just not what Congress intended,” said the Democrat. “For us to be applying the law in the way we are applying it does not make sense.”

Correa said he hopes to meet with Nielsen about the issue and suggest that she at least institute an exemption to the policy for legal Canadian pot workers or investors trying to visit the U.S.

Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security, said the department does not comment on congressional correspondence but will respond to the legislator “as appropriate.”

What had become apparent from anecdotal incidents was confirmed last week, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Canadians found to be investors in or employees of a cannabis business could be denied entry.

“If you work for the industry, that is grounds for inadmissibility,” one official told Politico, a statement repeated by other representatives.

The agency says that not everyone will be asked about such connections, but the topic could arise if, for instance, the border guard smelled marijuana in a vehicle.

However, several Canadians have already been turned back, and in some cases issued lifetime bans, because they had simply invested in cannabis shares. A Washington-state lawyer told the Vancouver Sun in July he was seeing one or two such cases a week.

Canada’s border security minister, Bill Blair, told The Canadian Press on Tuesday that he doesn’t believe anything is going to change at the border after Oct. 17, the date recreational marijuana use becomes legal in Canada.

Though U.S. federal law still criminalizes marijuana use or trafficking, the District of Columbia and nine states, including California, have already legalized its recreational use, and 30 have made medical pot legal.

In his letter to Nielsen, Correa asks the secretary to explain what public policy is advanced by denying entry to cannabis-industry members when the drug is at least partially legal in half of the United States.

“I am concerned DHS is unnecessarily and disproportionately penalizing noncitizens who are engaged in lawful business activities,” he wrote.

The ranking member of the House’s border security subcommittee said he decided to take on the issue partly to help preserve ties between the two countries.

“It’s my belief that Canada and the U.S. have enjoyed a very close relationship in every way you

FOR US TO BE APPLYING THE LAW IN THE WAY WE ARE APPLYING IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.

could list — culturally, militarily, economically,” he said. “In many ways, Canada and the U.S. have been joined at the hip.”

With tongue only partially in cheek and with an eye to boosting his state’s economy, Correa suggested the two neighbours include marijuana in their free-trade agreement.

“If California had the ability to export cannabis to Canada, we’d put everyone out of business, because California grows the best cannabis in the world,” he said.