Share
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flipboard
Print
Email

Canadian pot legislation could snarl border traffic

Original article
Proposed Canadian legislation to relax marijuana laws could lead U.S. authorities to increase border scrutiny this summer, raising concerns over increasing congestion at a time when holiday traffic may be rebounding from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and subsequent security threats.

The jury seems mixed on the potential impact from the proposed looser Canadian regulations, given the intense security-related scrutiny already placed on all entry points to the United States since Sept. 11, 2001. A bill dropping criminal penalties for marijuana use was to be introduced into the Canadian parliament this week.

Greg Boos, an immigration attorney expert in cross-border issues with offices in Bellingham and Toronto, said he believes the new laws could stretch the capabilities of border inspectors.

“If Canada changes marijuana laws and decriminalizes marijuana, there will be a lot more congestion at the border, even if we have more staff,” he said, adding that he expects more profiling and random checks of cars.

But Mike Milne, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in Seattle, said he believes “The impact would be nil.”

Milne estimated that funding for border inspectors has increased nearly 30 percent since Sept. 11, 2001, although not all those jobs are filled. The agency also has more equipment to work with, he said.

Anti-terrorism security is already far more exacting than drug-related security, he said, though the increased security-related inspections have inadvertently yielded more drug seizures.

In fiscal 2002 the agency discovered 8,787 pounds of marijuana coming across the U.S.-Canadian border into Western Washington, compared to 3,837 pounds in fiscal 2001.

Another government official, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Will Glaspy, predicted more attempted border crossings by organized drug smugglers and individual drug buyers if Canadian laws are relaxed.

“You combine those attempts with the security we’re already providing, and you’re going to have more encounters,” he said, adding that his agency opposes the proposed Canadian law change.

Already, British Columbia is considered a leading Canadian marijuana-producing area by the drug-enforcement community. The potent product of B.C. hydroponic drug farmers is widely known as “B.C. Bud” by drug users in the Western United States, Glaspy said.

One mitigating factor balancing the stiffer inspections since Sept. 11 has been the steady drop in vehicle traffic across the border, especially through the “Peace Arch” crossing at Blaine. This decrease has taken some pressure off the customs system even as individual inspections have increased.

Southbound auto traffic has dropped 58 percent in the last decade to last year’s 3.6 million total crossings, according to data compiled by the International Mobility & Trade Corridor Project, an alliance of governments and business interests on both sides of the border.

Southbound truck volumes have increased about 70 percent during that period, although the overall volumes are far smaller than automobile crossings, at 614,404 last year. Current truck volumes are down somewhat from the 1998 peak of 670,427. Northbound volumes are roughly equivalent for cars and trucks.

An option for people worried about getting across the border quickly is to apply for a Nexus pass, said Bruce Agnew, director of the Cascadia Project, which advocates better integration in the transportation system between British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Cascadia project is organized through the Seattle-based Discovery Institute.

So far only about 40,000 people have applied for the Nexus passes, compared to the 70,000 “Pace” passes that had been issued before the older program was dropped after Sept. 11. The newer program is more stringent because each pass is granted to an individual person, not a vehicle as was the case with the Pace passes.

Nexus holders are allowed to whisk across the border using a special high-speed lane, with inspections significantly reduced or eliminated.

Some people applying for Nexus passes have been rejected due to their prior records, which has discouraged some from applying. People also are reluctant to travel to the border just to apply for the passes, which are currently only granted there, Agnew said.

“We’re real disappointed we don’t have as many people in Nexus as we did in Pace,” Agnew said, adding that several groups are lobbying U.S. and Canadian authorities to develop Nexus application centers in downtown Vancouver and Seattle. He hopes more people will apply when it becomes easier to do so.

Reach Steve Wilhelm at 206-447-8505 ext. 113 or swilhelm@bizjournals.com.