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U.S. Customs Revises Policy for Canada Marijuana Growers

Blog posted on by Evelyn Ackah in Inadmissibility Issues and Waivers and Marijuana Legalization and Decriminalization

U.S. Customs Revises Policy for Canada Marijuana Growers

Canada's new marijuana legalization laws that go into effect October 17, 2018, have the potential to permanently bar anyone who invests, works in or buys marijuana legally in Canada from ever entering the United States. On October 10, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revised their policy and clarified that policy in a statement:

“A Canadian citizen working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in Canada, coming to the U.S. for reasons unrelated to the marijuana industry will generally be admissible to the U.S.”

The U.S. border agency's policy on cannabis and the border is a major concern for Canadians as legalization nears. Not only are Canadian marijuana users at risk, Canadian investors and workers in the U.S. cannabis industry also face barriers to entering the United States.

According to The Star,

Canadian businesspeople or investors with ties to the American cannabis industry will still risk inadmissibility if those links are made apparent to CBP officers. Likewise, Canadians with criminal histories related to pre-legalization cannabis — or those who have admitted past cannabis use to CBP officers — will still be eligible for border bans.

Immigration lawyer Evelyn Ackah is concerned about the impact Canada's new marijuana laws will have on cross-border business.

Never lie about marijuana use at the border crossing, but instead refuse to answer any questions about marijuana use. The U.S. border agency's revision to their marijuana policy is good for Canadians and good for cross-border business. However, Canadians who legally invest in, work in or use marijuana in Canada still face problems crossing the border for business or personal travel. If you lie to a border agent, you may be banned for life from entering the United States. If you refuse to answer, you may be turned away at the border that one time.


Evelyn L. Ackah, BA, LL.B.

Founder/Managing Lawyer

Ms. Ackah is passionate about immigration law because it focuses on people and relationships, which are at the core of her personal values. Starting her legal career as a corporate/commercial ...

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It is one thing to earn a living; it is another thing to make a difference in the world.

This is our formal thank you note to Evelyn Ackah and the Ackah Law Team for all the effort they put into helping us navigate and finally resolve the hurdle that was Canadian Immigration back in the spring of 2012.

A friend referred us to Evelyn; he assured us that Evelyn would take good care of us. Our friend was confident we were in good hands and said Evelyn would do her very best to help us and she did! At the time we did not know that his referral would go far beyond finding us help. Slowly we realized that it would become our own personal story of how we received grace and were reminded of the power in paying it forward

We wrote a detailed page of our dilemma, explaining how we came to be in the position we were in (overwhelmed with the hurdle that was Canadian Immigration and the uncertainty that we faced as a young family in Calgary). Evelyn agreed to take on our file with her team. They found the time to personally call us and listened intently and understood the details of what we were dealing with. They gave us their time, an honest opinion and provided clear direction which proved to be invaluable advice. Months went by but in time, we received word from Ackah Law that the Immigration office had finally reviewed our file and a decision had been made allowing our family to finally put the immigration matter to rest. We were finally able to focus again to live our lives without fear or pending doom.

Looking back now, even the sun appeared to shine a little brighter that day. At first we didn’t know whether to bake them a cake, drive out to meet their team, find their offices and personally thank them with a mighty hug or simply cry out to the heavens in thankful relief. Instead we emailed them to express our heartfelt thank-you and we hoped that they would know deep in their hearts just how grateful we were for all of their help.

Even though we relied on emails and phone conversations to communicate with them that year, we will always remember their constant professionalism, their kindness and understanding at a time that brought us so much pain not to mention fear. As if all their hard work wasn’t enough, Evelyn then then casually mentions that all their work was done pro-bono! We were thoroughly humbled!

To this day we are still eager to share how wonderful they all are as human beings but even more than that, we continue to pay it forward in honour of them, their service to us and their continued dedication in helping others.

Eternally thankful

– The Brummunds

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