How American Marijuana Legalization Is Changing the Canadian Border

Recreational marijuana is now legal in 8 US states, and medical marijuana is legal in 29. However, it is still illegal to transport marijuana across state borders. This is the case even when two adjacent states have both legalized marijuana. To carry marijuana across state borders is a violation of federal law, whether it is carried in person or via the Post.

The Canada-American Marijuana Problem

But to make matters worse, the problem extends across state boundaries all the way to Canada. There have been past cases where Canadian residents have been refused entry into the US where they have had a marijuana medical license. The takeaway for Canadians is to never admit to recreational weed use because if they do they will be refused entry. One Canadian was permanently barred from entering the US after admitting to US officials that he had tried recreational marijuana while applying for his medical license. Matthew Harvey was not carrying any weed  at the time of his detention by customs officials.

Canada wants the US to change its rather ridiculous stance on weed and Canadian official have denounce the situation as ridiculous and illogical. The US do not look like budging and have never been known to take criticism of any kind well. If anything, it will make the government dig their heels in, as agreeing with Canada would be seen as weak. As ridiculous as this sounds this is the reality of the situation. And in the meantime, Canadians will be refused entry and business will suffer.

Another victim, Jessica Goldstein, was asked by border officials while travelling to Washington whether or not she had ever taken drugs. Many make the mistake of thinking that telling the truth is the thing to do in this situation. Jessica Goldstein said she took weed instead of staying silent and being vague, like saying she drank alcohol. She was on her way to Washington where weed had been legalized. She was detained for 6 hours and got a lifetime ban on entering the US for her trouble. This is all legal. If a foreigner admits to border agents that he or she has taken or plans to take marijuana, even in jurisdictions where it is legal, they can be refused entry and given lifetime bans. Even if it is perfectly legal to consumer it in the place you are traveling to. Border officials and federal agents are not your friends in terms of marijuana. When they ask whether or not you have taken marijuana, then are out to get you.

Canadian Marijuana legalization

The issue is going to get worse next year with as Canada puts the legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana into place. And in the US, we can expect to see an increase in the number of states who legalize both recreational and medical marijuana as time goes by. The deadline for recreational marijuana legalization is July 2018. There is a rush on at the moment in Canada for provinces to get ready for the legalization in 2018, with all the ensuing social and health implication of recreational weed legalization. Canada will become the second country to legalize recreational marijuana and the first large industrialized nation to permit both recreational as well as medicinal use. Only Uruguay has a regime which permits widespread use of cannabis. Under the proposed Canadian legislation, residents can grow up to 4 plants in their homes and can store of to 30 grams for personal use. The legal age for Canadians will ne 18, as opposed to 21 in the USA.

The same can be seen in the USA, with local counties within states such as California struggling to come up with the guidelines and procedures to comply with Federal and state regulation. California has a little over 6 months to get everything into place before businesses start applying for licenses to sell recreational weed. Canadian provinces have a year, and there are a multitude of things to consider, from taxation to regulation to cultivation process to marijuana storage. Canada has permitted medical us of cannabis since 2001. It already has bustling industry of cannabis related industries.

This is going to cause serious concerns and the US are not showing any signs of addressing the issue. It means that border officials can simply ban Canadians by asking them whether or not they have smoked cannabis or not. Border officials are not friendly and when staying silent they will doubtless find other ways to refuse the individual entry into the country. Otherwise the use of recreational marijuana can be admitted and the border officer can decide whether or not to let the person into the country.

A Strange Situation

It is a rather bizarre situation where the Federal government has said it will leave it up to individual states to determine if cannabis is legal or not in that region, but reserved the right to prosecute citizens of that state for marijuana use. It seems to be the Federal government are against rest of world and also its own individual states and citizens. It should be borne in mind that where a Federal and a State law conflict, the Federal law will win. This is known as the doctrine of pre-emption, and is written in Article 6 of the constitution.

We can expect the law and aggression at the border to change as marijuana becomes more acceptable and as civil rights groups and other organizations start voicing their opinion on how draconian the current US border stance is on Canadian citizens.

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