A B.C. cannabis industry investor who was planning to attend a conference in Las Vegas last week ended up stuck in Canada with a lifetime ban on entering the United States. The man鈥檚 lawyer says the case is a reminder that Canadians need to think twice about what they tell U.S. border agents.
Immigration lawyer Len Saunders told CTV News Channel that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent stopped the man and asked why he was going to Las Vegas. The man said he was going to a cannabis conference and planned to tour a marijuana production facility in Nevada, where recreational cannabis has been legal since 2017.
Because cannabis remains illegal at the U.S. federal level, the man received a lifetime ban from entering the U.S., according to Saunders. He may be able to apply for a waiver to enter in the future, but that currently costs US$585 plus legal fees, according to Saunders.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection鈥檚 official policy is that Canadians working in the legal marijuana industry in Canada are 鈥済enerally admissible to the U.S.鈥� but 鈥渢hose coming to the U.S. for reason related to the marijuana industry ... may be deemed inadmissible.鈥�
鈥淚f someone has an investment, or they鈥檙e doing business, selling their goods or services or perhaps are a landlord of a commercial property in the U.S. with a cannabis-related tenant ... it鈥檚 potentially a lifetime bar,鈥� Saunders said.
Saunders added that he鈥檚 advising his clients not to 鈥渟elf-incriminate鈥� themselves when they speak with U.S. border agents.
鈥淭he Canadian government is saying to tell the truth (but) you don鈥檛 have to do that and self-incriminate yourself,鈥� he says.
鈥淵ou do not have to answer that question if you feel uncomfortable. The worst that can happen is a simple (one-time) denied entry, not a lifetime ban.鈥�
