Canadians who are queuing to buy recreational marijuana may be unwittingly making it harder to be allowed to travel to the U.S. if the federal government in America doesn’t soften its hard stance on the marijuana industry.
This concern takes on greater importance given that federal agents at entry points have the leeway to perform any background check necessary before admitting someone into the country. Those background checks can include looking into how someone has been using his or her credit cards.
People who have bought cannabis using their credit cards therefore face the risk of being denied entry into the U.S. since the authorities there may view them as individuals who are connected to an illegal industry (even if marijuana is legal in Canada for both medical and recreational use).
The possibility of having your credit card history reviewed may increase in case the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) agents ask a traveler about cannabis and they have reason to suspect that the person isn’t being truthful in his or her responses.
Canadians shouldn’t imagine that the sheer numbers of people traveling across the border to the South is so high that it may be practically impossible for the border agents to look at everyone’s credit card history. It is possible, and you may be that one person who is singled out for such a background check.
The Canadian province of Ontario currently only allows residents to use their MasterCard or Visa cards to buy recreational cannabis online. This means that the people in this province are at a higher risk of being in the crosshairs of the American border agents if credit card purchases are ever looked into before one is allowed to cross into the U.S.
Don’t rely on the words of comfort coming from the different tech giants like Google, Amazon and Microsoft saying that they will protect the data of Canadians. The Patriot Act can be invoked to compel those companies to release any information that the US government requires in its bid to keep the homeland secure.
Over time, the position of the US is likely to evolve in order to accommodate its neighbor since keeping all Canadians involved in the cannabis industry as workers, investors or consumers out of the country may end up hurting the US. Until that time comes, one should use his or her credit card for making marijuana purchases only when it is unavoidable. Even Americans who cross into Canada and buy cannabis using their credit cards may be affected later on even if the border agents cannot stop them from returning home.
The fears resulting from differences in the laws governing marijuana in different jurisdictions also give cannabis companies like ChineseInvestors.com (OTCQB: CIIX) and FinCanna Capital Corp. (CSE: CALI) (OTCQB: FNNZF) major headaches that they would wish to see end sooner rather than later.
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