Weeding Out Those Nasty Canadians

   Legal

  Legal for medical use

  Legal for medical use, limited THC content

  Prohibited for any use

  D  Decriminalized

---

Notes:
· Includes laws which have not yet gone into effect.
· Cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under federal law.
· Some Indian reservations have legalization policies separate from the states they are located in.
· Cannabis is illegal in all federal enclaves.

As Canada has now joined Uruguay as the only nations to have legalized marijuana, there remains a rather profound disconnect in the US between federal law and the laws of many states. Marijuana usage in the United States is, well, ubiquitous: “According to a new poll released Monday [April 16^th], 52 percent of Americans over 18 have tried marijuana at some point in their lives. The survey conducted by Yahoo News and Marist Poll found that not only have most adults in the U.S. smoked pot, 44 percent of those who tried it once still use it today.

“The poll, titled Weed and the American Family, looks at everything from family views on marijuana use to regulation, entertainment, social acceptability, and more. And of course it comes just in time for the unofficial holiday of cannabis culture that falls on April 20th each year.

“Despite marijuana still being federally classified as a dangerous Schedule I drug, on par with heroin, American attitudes toward the drug have changed over time. The Yahoo-Marist poll found that, out of the respondents who have tried pot at some point, 65 percent are parents. In fact, people who are current marijuana users are slightly more likely to be parents, at 51 percent.” NBCNews.com, April 17^th.

Wikipedia has this summary of state laws and is the source for the above map: “In the United States, the use and possession of cannabis is illegal under federal law for any purpose, by way of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Under the CSA, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I substance, determined to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use – thereby prohibiting even medical use of the drug. At the state level, however, policies regarding the medical and recreational use of cannabis vary greatly, and in many states conflict significantly with federal law.

“The medical use of cannabis is legal (with a doctor's recommendation) in 31 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico. Sixteen other states have laws that limit THC content, for the purpose of allowing access to products that are rich in cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of cannabis. Although cannabis remains a Schedule I drug, the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment prohibits federal prosecution of individuals complying with state medical cannabis laws.                                                                          

“The recreational use of cannabis is legal in 9 states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands.   Another 13 states plus theU.S. Virgin Islands have decriminalized. Commercial distribution of cannabis is allowed in all jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized, except Vermont and the District of Columbia. Prior to January 2018, the Cole Memorandum [allowing US attorneys to stop prosecuting marijuana possession] provided some protection against the enforcement of federal law in states that have legalized, but it was rescinded by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“Although the use of cannabis remains federally illegal, some of its derivative compounds have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for prescription use.” Weed is sufficiently illegal at a federal level that admitting to border/customs officials to have used it in the past (or lying that never did) is sufficient to get non-U.S. citizens permanently banned from entering the United States for any reason even if use of marijuana was legal in your home country (even medically prescribed) and legal in the state to which you are traveling. 

Weed is so dangerous that even a couple of Republican heavyweights are now moving into the commercial marijuana trade. The April 11 MarketWatch.com: “John Boehner, former Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, and Bill Weld, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts who was the 2016 running mate of Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, are joining the advisory board of Acreage Holdings, which owns cannabis licenses and assets in the 30 states where cannabis is approved for medical or recreational use.” Demon weed!

The October 15^th Los Angeles Times expounds further: “Bill Powers, a Canadian construction worker who uses medical marijuana, was barred from the U.S. after border agents asked whether he ever smoked pot…  Powers flipped through the sworn statement he gave to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the printed pages taking him back to that August afternoon — back to the border checkpoint into Washington state where agents asked if he had ever smoked marijuana.

“Yes, he answered, not initially thinking much of the question. The 57-year-old Canadian has a license for medical marijuana, and pot had been legal in Washington for six years. Like that, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents turned him away with an extreme decree: He had been banned from the United States.

“‘It’s absolutely out of control. Here I am being honest with the United States and I get the boot,’ Powers said on a recent afternoon as he stood in his driveway in this farming town an hour east of Vancouver. ‘I have a license … yet they’re turning people away for pot? It makes not a single bit of sense.’

“With Canada set to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide on Wednesday — only the second country to do so, following Uruguay — many Canadians, especially those who live near the border, face growing anxiety over what to say if U.S. customs agents ask them if they’ve ever consumed marijuana.

“Lying to a border agent can result in a person being denied entry. But so too can being honest about past marijuana use.

“While nearly every state along the U.S.-Canada border has legalized marijuana, at least for medical use, ports of entry fall under federal jurisdiction, meaning cannabis is still viewed as a Schedule I drug — just like heroin.

“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, U.S. border agents — who have broad discretion in what questions they ask people seeking entry — can turn away noncitizens who acknowledge having used a controlled substance, ever.

“Last year, U.S. officials turned away 22,000 Canadians at ports of entry, deeming them inadmissible, according to the most recent available data. The Department of Homeland Security does not list the reasons a person is denied entry and the agency declined to say how many Canadians are annually deemed inadmissible because of marijuana…

“In a statement posted to its website last week, the Department of Homeland Security said it stands firm on barring even casual marijuana users from entering the country.

“‘U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforces the laws of the United States and U.S. laws will not change following Canada’s legalization of marijuana,’ the statement read. ‘Requirements for international travelers wishing to enter the United States are governed by and conducted in accordance with U.S. Federal Law, which supersedes state laws.’”

What’s even more inane is the ability to apply to Homeland Security for a waiver of this travel restriction. Costs plenty ($580 plus $1,000 or more in legal fees) and takes lots of time (3 to 6 months), but it is possible. Oh, and applicants need to get a background check and two character reference letters. And Republicans scream about over-regulation? Jeff is hardly in Session(s). What a colossal waste!

I’m Peter Dekom, and if we applied the same restrictions to U.S. citizens, we could open up a lot of free space and depopulate most of the country.