WASHINGTON – The Canadian government does not think legal marijuana users, workers and investors will face widespread problems crossing into the United States despite a U.S. warning that they will continue to risk being barred, a Canadian spokesperson suggested on Friday.Senior U.S. border official Todd Owen told the website Politico that the U.S. will not do anything to accommodate Canada’s imminent marijuana legalization. Owen said Canadians who earn money from the industry or consume its products will still face the possibility of being deemed inadmissible.“We don’t recognize that as a legal business,” said Owen, executive assistant commissioner for the office of field operations.But border officers have considerable discretion, and they do not ask most travellers about their drug use or their occupation. A spokesperson for Bill Blair, the Canadian minister of border security, suggested that the government does not expect large-scale U.S. hassling after legalization takes effect on Oct. 17. A spokesperson for Bill Blair, the Canadian minister of border security, suggested that the government does not expect large-scale U.S. hassling after legalization takes effect on Oct. 17.“Despite one-in-eight Canadians using cannabis today, 400,000 people move between our two countries every day almost entirely without incident,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.Read more: Canadians who smoke marijuana legally, or work or invest in the industry, will be barred from the U.S.: Customs and Border Protection officialCalgary’s proposed public pot spaces go up in smokeCanada Post strike could help black market, medical pot producer warnsThe government did not offer any criticism of the U.S. policy. Blair’s office, like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself earlier in the week, suggested that the government would not lobby the U.S. for changes — though Blair’s office did not say this directly.“T ...
|
