An Edmonton man is creating an app to buy cannabis and keep it off of your credit card statement.
Kam Nemec explained that his app, GreenGreen, is basically like a credit card that you can use instead of Visa or Mastercard.
Nemec said United States border agents can access your credit card statements and bar you from the country if you have connections to cannabis.
“As a Canadian, you are a foreigner to the U.S. government, which means they can pull any data they want on you that’s stored in the United States, and if they see you made a cannabis purchase in the U.S., they can ban you permanently.”
A U.S. immigration lawyer said he has not heard of travellers being barred based on their credit card statements, but a Canadian who invested in a cannabis company was intercepted in Vancouver last week.
“He had made an investment in Canada which had U.S. holdings and based on that he received a lifetime bar,” Len Saunders said.
Saunders thinks Canadians have not been warned enough about potential issues at the border, and said travellers do not have to answer cannabis questions, or disclose the passwords to their devices.
"What's worse?" asked Saunders. "Refusing to give out your password and having a simple denied entry, or being barred for life because there's incriminating evidence on your phone?"
Nemec also anticipates GreenGreen becoming a more secure method of transaction for U.S. cannabis retailers, who are mandated by federal law to deal entirely in cash.
GreenGreen will launch in a number of U.S. stores, and at least in one Edmonton store by Christmas.
With files from Nicole Weisberg
