US to stop Canadian pot businessmen at border

WASHINGTON: Canada may have legalised recreational marijuana, but executives of the country’s booming pot industry need to be aware that they are not exactly welcome south of the border in the United States.

As the world’s first major economy fully legalised cannabis, officials of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) warned they won’t admit anyone arriving with the intent “to aid in the proliferation of the marijuana business”.

Even if some US states and localities, including the capital Washington, permit medical or recreational pot use, the CBP warned that the drug remains illegal under US federal law, giving them the responsibility to fight its use and promotion.

“If... a Canadian is coming to the United States and it has nothing to do with the marijuana industry or the proliferation of the industry, that person would generally be deemed admissible,” CBP officer Christopher Perry said in a press conference in Detroit, Michigan, on the Canadian border.

But “if they’re coming to the United States... with the express interest to facilitate or develop the marijuana industry, they would generally be deemed inadmissible”.

Theoretically, the CBP’s stance could prevent Canadian marijuana company executives from travelling to US financial centres on business, which could be considered supporting “proliferation” of pot. — AFP