U.S. barring Canadians for pot investments

LAWYER TELLING BUSINESSMEN TO STAY HOME

A Vancouver businessman banned for life from entering the United States over his investments in American marijuana companies says he plans to seek a waiver that permits him to cross the border.

Canadian Sam Znaimer said he was recently denied entry at a Washington state border crossing by officials who said his investments in U.S. marijuana companies make him ineligible to enter the country.

“I spent four hours, four-anda-half hours at the border station and at the end of that whole process I was told that I’d been permanently banned from entering the U.S.,” he said in an interview.

Immigration lawyer Len Saunders said he’s heard about a dozen similar cases recently where Canadians have been denied entry to the United States because of their connections to the marijuana industry.

“I’m getting panicked phone calls from Canadian companies who are concerned about their staff being denied entry and liability issues, or about themselves because they are senior executives,” said Saunders, a Canadian whose law practice is based at Blaine, Wash.

Saunders said he tells Canadians working with American marijuana companies not to cross the border.

“You might as well be doing business with Pablo Escobar, selling cocaine in the U.S.,” he said, adding marijuana is still a so-called schedule 1 substance in the U.S., defined by having no medical use and a high potential for abuse.

Znaimer said he’s been investing in numerous business ventures for more than 30 years, including marijuana companies.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection office did not comment specifically on Znaimer’s case, but said in a statement that medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. states, but it remains illegal under U.S. federal law.