Maine Border Patrol will still seize marijuana despite legalization
Published: Aug 29, 2017, 12:04 pm • Updated: Aug 29, 2017, 12:04 pm
By The Associated Press
BANGOR, Maine — Border Patrol officials in Maine say they will still enforce federal law and confiscate marijuana after residents voted for legalization last November.
Chief Daniel Hiebert tells The Portland Press Herald border agents are not actively looking for the drug, but they will confiscate it if found.
With a short staff at the Houlton Sector, Hiebert says the agency will make human trafficking, drug trafficking and terrorism links their primary focus.
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The Bangor Daily News reports that Hiebert also said, “We are not going out looking for it, but if an agent is helping a driver change a tire along the border and the driver lights up a joint, by law, we must seize it.”
Hiebert also warns residents that even family links to the cannabis industry can bar them from a job with the federal government.
Maine Border Patrol agents have confiscated about 720 pounds of marijuana since 2012. Hiebert says his office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland have declined to prosecute those cases.
Information from: Portland Press Herald
Topics: Canada, Maine, U.S. border patrol, US-Canada border
