Canada has some fine fare when it comes to nugs, but it’s still not a good idea to try and bring pot back over the U.S. border after a trip to our northern neighbors’ legalized haven. Pot seizures are up around 140 percent since Canada legalized, and mailed herb is also getting snagged more often.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and WGRZ News, in October 2017, around two pounds of marijuana was seized, in 40 incidents, across the entire border. In October 2018, the numbers went up: 85 pounds were seized in over 100 occurrences.
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It would be more than nice if the U.S. would open its own policies up to have cannabis not be federally illegal. Clearly reciprocity would go down. Though the seizures are from the Canadian side to the U.S., if we were able to do trade with Canada, our own cultivars would be very popular there. Exports would be booming, especially from the famous regions of weed growing in California, like Humboldt County and the rest of the Emerald Triangle.
The increase in cannabis seizures coincided with an uptick in seizures of other drugs, like cocaine and prescriptions, though those numbers are much lower. It seems the drug of choice, at least for U.S. citizens wandering north, is pretty much cannabis.
And the cannabis numbers are relatively small as well. That’s not a lot of weed being taken considering the length of the border, the amount of pot smokers crossing it on the daily and the resources set aside for such seizures.
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In November of this year, 197 separate seizures occurred versus the 123 that went down last year. Last year, November was the first full month of legalization, again, though there is a marked increase, the numbers are still relatively low for the amount of border crossing that are continually happening.
Smaller numbers or not, it’s best to leave your leftovers in Canada before coming back home. There are consequences to smuggling even small amounts of marijuana over the border, including and up to incarceration and passport problems. Be aware and be cool. And don’t forget to do a double check of your pockets and hand bags before crossing.
