Cannabis and the border – Don’t travel with it

2018-10-17
It remains illegal to take cannabis across the border. Don’t bring it in. Don’t take it out.

Transcript

Woman's voice: Oh, shhh-ugar snaps! I thought marijuana was legal now?

A woman stands in front of a border services officer in a Border Services examination room. Her opened suitcase is laying on top of an examination desk. Inside her suitcase is a small bag of prescription cannabis. On the bag is a symbol of a cannabis leaf with the red circle and slash through it.

The border services officer spots the bag of cannabis; the officer shakes her head in disapproval.

The scene zooms out to show another group of travellers at another desk in the examination room. Some travellers have cannabis products in their luggage.

Narrator: Cannabis and products containing it may be legal in Canada, but that doesn’t mean you can cross the border with them.

A prescription symbol, a cannabis joint, a drop of cannabis oil and a cookie appear on screen. Each of the symbols has a red circle and slash through it. The symbols drop into a waste basket near the border services officers.

Whether you use it medically or recreationally, if you’re leaving Canada, returning or visiting, it’s still illegal to take cannabis across the Canadian border.

An outdoor scene of a land border crossing appears. Cars, trucks and vans drive up to the entrance of the land border crossing. Some vehicles containing cannabis products are marked with cannabis leaf icons; the icons all have a red circle and slash through them. The leaf icon is removed from any marked vehicles as they reach the border crossing and placed in the border crossing building.

In the distance we see an airport with planes arriving and departing. The planes are marked with the same cannabis leaf icons as the cars.

If you have it with you, declare it. Moving cannabis across an international border is a serious offence that can impact your future.

A map of Canada appears. A pair of handcuffs appears on the screen. The clasps of the handcuffs are each made of a cannabis leaf icon with a red circle and slash.

Cannabis leaf icons with red circles and slashes appear on the map of Canada bouncing around the screen. Icons within the Canadian border stay within Canada; icons outside of the border stay outside.

A message appears on screen: “Keep It Legal. Don’t Bring It In. Don’t Take It Out”. The website of the Canada Border Services Agency appears at the bottom of the screen – www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.

Keep it legal. Don’t bring it in. Don’t take it out.

A copyright message appears: “Copyright Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, 2018” followed by the Government of Canada Wordmark which includes a waving Canadian flag.

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