Pot confiscation at Canadian border increased in weeks after legalization: stats

OTTAWA – New statistics show the number of cannabis confiscations at the Canadian border increased more than 60 per cent year-over-year in the first six weeks after pot legalization.

The Canada Border Services Agency is linking the rise to the fact it began asking people last fall whether they were bringing cannabis into the country.

The border agency says there were 329 instances of cannabis either being seized by — or forfeited to — Canadian border officers from Oct. 17 to Nov. 30 of last year.

That compares to 204 such confiscations in the period of Oct. 17 to Nov. 30, 2017.

As of last Oct. 17, adults in Canada can possess and share up to 30 grams of legal cannabis.

However, taking pot across Canada's international borders remains illegal and can result in serious criminal penalties.

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Shelby Thevenot

Shelby has lived across Canada. She grew up near Winnipeg, Manitoba then obtained her B.F.A in Multidisciplinary Fine Arts at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 2014 she moved to Montreal, Quebec to study French and thrived in the Visual Journalism Graduate Diploma program at Concordia University. Now she works at iNFO News where she strives to get the stories that matter to the Okanagan Valley community.

Member of:

The Professional Writers Association of Canada

Quebec Writers Federation

English Language Arts Network