It comes as no surprise that several Canadian cannabis company employees and investors will be traveling to the United States this week to attend the largest cannabis industry conference in the world, MJBizCon, in Las Vegas. The conference lists several Canadian companies among its speakers and will cover a variety of topics including investment, branding and an assessment of Canada’s first month of legalization, but for those wishing to cross the border into the U.S. for the conference, there are additional considerations that must be taken into account.

On October 9, 2018, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revised its Policy Statement on Canada’s Legalization of Cannabis and Crossing the Border (the “Revised Statement”). Prior to this date, CBP had taken the position that merely being an employee (or an investor) of a legal cannabis business in Canada could result in inadmissibility under Section 212 of The Immigration and Nationality Act. See INA §212(a)(2)(C).

INA §212(a)(2)(C) permanently bars an individual if a CBP officer has reason to believe that he or she is an illicit trafficker in a controlled substance, or a knowing assister, abettor, conspirator or colluder in illicit trafficking. Prior to the Revised Statement, there were already a number of reported cases of employees and investors of Canadian cannabis businesses receiving lifetime bans under INA §212(a)(2)(C). Although these cases appeared to be limited to ports of entry on the West Coast, they demonstrated that employees and investors of Canadian cannabis companies were being banned as illicit traffickers.

The Revised Statement was welcome news for employees and investors of Canadian cannabis companies as it opened up the possibility of travel to the U.S. once more, but with a very import caveat. The current position taken by CBP is as follows:

A Canadian citizen working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal cannabis industry in Canada, coming to the U.S. for reasons unrelated to the cannabis industry will generally be admissible to the U.S. However, if a traveler is found to be coming to the U.S. for reason related to the cannabis industry, they may be deemed inadmissible.

The Revised Statement confirms that employees of Canadian cannabis companies should be admissible if their reasons for coming to the United States are “unrelated to the cannabis industry.” This clearly includes traveling purely for vacation (for example, visiting with family) and even business visitor activities that were completely unrelated to the cannabis industry.

However, although the Revised Statement was a step in the right direction, CBP’s current stance means that someone can be barred merely for visiting a U.S. investor in his or her Canadian cannabis company or, you guessed it, attending a cannabis conference in the United States such as MJBizCon.

On October 25, 2018, the Canadian Press reported that they had received an email from Stephanie Malin, CBP Branch Chief for Northern/Coastal Regions, which stated the following:

If the purpose of travel is unrelated to the cannabis industry such as a vacation, shopping trip, visit to relatives, they will generally be admissible to the U.S. However, if they are coming for reasons related to the industry, such as the conference… they may be found inadmissible.

This statement by Ms. Malin in an ominous reminder that for Canadians wishing to come to the U.S. for conferences such as MJBizCon, there is a risk that you may be denied entry.

If you want to hear more about this issues, Lane Powell’s own Dustin O’Quinn and Sativa Rasmussen will present a Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia webinar on Tuesday, November 20, titled “The U.S. Border After Cannabis Legalization in Canada.” The presentation will start at noon PST and cover:

  • U.S. immigration law and how it’s impacted by some states’ legalization of cannabis,
  • Cross-border transactions to the U.S.,
  • Overview of U.S. policies that affect Canadians, and
  • Potential forms of relief.

The event is intended for lawyers who represent clients involved in the cannabis industry or clients who conduct business with cannabis-related industries.

For more information or to register for the conference, please visit the event website.