08-24-2020, 11:25 AM
(08-23-2020, 01:07 PM)Patrick Wrote: They take it seriously too.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/pot-use-ad...-1.4640051
Quote:"They asked me if I'd ever done drugs and I just told the truth," he said. "I didn't want to lie, so I told them, 'Yes, I smoked marijuana 18 years ago.' Four hours later, I was escorted across the border after I was fingerprinted, frisked, pictures taken and asked 1,000 questions, the same question every time."
BUT it seems now that you can do something about it. Although it sounds like groveling for ever.
Quote:He estimated the waiver process will cost him about US$2,000. The cost includes legal fees, criminal record checks and he is expected to write a letter of remorse for smoking marijuana in the past...Saunders said hiring him is not a guarantee that Canadians will be allowed back into the United States. The waiver process can take up to one year to complete and is not permanent, meaning people often must reapply, he said.
Here is what legal counsel tells us to do if we are asked that question.
Quote:"People are often not asked, have they smoked marijuana before?" he said. "The advice we give our clients is always to be as honest with officers as they possibly can be. If I was in the back seat of your car whispering advice in your ear, I'd probably say at that point, I'd rather not answer that question and ask if you can withdraw your application for admission."
The hypocrisy of it is staggering. I may not have an issue with defensive lying, but I do have an issue with hypocrisy in general. I really don't like it. I am NOT an hypocrite and find it really hard to accept. Must be another blue-ray thing I have to work on.
https://www.ezbordercrossing.com/the-ins...g-the-u-s/
Quote:How to Answer the Question “Have You Ever Smoked Pot?”
CBP officers may profile you and then ask you whether you have used cannabis before. If you say “yes”, you may be turned away at the border. U.S. federal law says that someone is inadmissible to the U.S. if they have either been “convicted of” or “admits having committed” a violation of drug laws in the U.S. or elsewhere. In other words, if you admit to drug use, that is grounds to turn you away, and maybe give you a ban on ever entering the U.S. Not every officer will ask the question, and some officers may have a much tougher response than others. As a result:
Do not even joke about drug use.
It does not matter if you say this was a long time ago. There was a case where an individual was turned away from the U.S. border, and barred for life, after a border guard searched his name on the internet and found that he had written in an academic journal about using LSD in the 1960s.
You have 4 options to the question: “Have You Ever Smoked Pot”
- Lie
- Tell the Truth
- Refuse to Answer
- Revoke Your Request to Enter the U.S.
Lie?
If you lie about your past pot use, be aware that the consequences are likely to be very harsh if you’re caught in the lie. You could face up to a lifetime ban on ever entering the U.S. again. If you receive a shorter ban, your immigration record will always show that you lied to officers. This will likely lead to extensive interrogation at the border for the rest of your life. This will be true even if the U.S. later decides to stop asking about marijuana use.
There are lots of ways that U.S. border officials may uncover your deception. CBP officers are entitled to use any documentary evidence to confirm your statements – whether in print, online or on social media, in text or image. It can be on the internet, your phone, or laptop. Read our page on Border Searches to get a clear idea of the extent of the border patrol’s search powers.
There are also questions as to whether U.S. Customs Officials may be able to get access to Canadian information about the purchase and sale of recreational cannabis. Records of customer purchases, and information from the many companies in the distribution network, will be kept in a wide variety of Canadian databases. In addition, the U.S. Patriot Act permits border officials to access information like credit card data.
...
If you ordered cannabis online or paid on site using a credit card, it's quite possible the agent will see this when asking the question.
BUT agents asking this are mostly the ones on a power trip. The "good" ones don't ask that question. I have never personally been asked that question. The only time I felt I was doing something "wrong" at a border crossing, having bought something on US soil without the intent on declaring it, when actually being asked if I had anything to declare, I said YES and then had to pay taxes and import fees and stuff. I should have been at ease with lying, but I guess in this case it was not really defensive so I couldn't do it.
My Dad has spent the past 4 years trying to immigrate to the US to be with his wife, he has paid for probably 3 waivers by now, gotten an immigration lawyer, talked with the Canadian embassy and even taken it to the governor. Yet, still hasn't been able to get down there.
Reason? Got caught with weed when he was like 19, minor possession charge, he actually took the fall for the group, but that one thing has produced a nightmare situation.