GOP Senator Calls Out Security Threat At Border Due To Customs Agency's Cannabis Policies For Agents

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) has launched a critical appeal to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), demanding the reversal of a recent policy shift.

The revised policy reducing the period of ineligibility for employment due to past marijuana use from two years to just three months apparently triggered alarm bells for Lankford.

In a letter addressed to CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, Lankford expressed deep reservations about the policy’s implications, reported Fox News on Monday.

"I am gravely concerned that this policy change undermines the security and integrity of the Border Patrol workforce. Accordingly, I ask that you rescind this policy and restore the two-year lookback on marijuana usage among Border Patrol recruits," he wrote.

Lankford's letter comes one day after, Donald Trump said he preferred immigrants from "nice" countries like Denmark and Switzerland rather than nations “that are a disaster.”

Lankford underscored the fundamental contradiction between the CBP’s mission to combat illegal drug trafficking and relax rules concerning marijuana use among recruits. He stressed the CBP's obligation to uphold national laws regarding controlled substances, regardless of ongoing state-level legalization of marijuana.

He pointed to the DEA's 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment notes: "Many polycrime and polydrug organizations are involved in domestic marijuana production, often establishing large-scale illicit grow operations in states that have legalized marijuana."

The DEA assessment also reported that marijuana produced by state-licensed growers often ends up being sold illicitly and that many state-licensed marijuana businesses receive financial backing from illicit sources, including transnational criminal organizations.

"The DEA's findings in this report are certainly the case in my home state," the senator from Oklahoma remarked. He elaborated on the “broader implications of the policy change,” cautioning that it “might inadvertently enable criminal organizations and threaten border security.”

Langford then alleged links between licensed cannabis businesses and corruption, as well as associating marijuana use with mental health issues, despite conflicting research findings.

More hot topics like this will be on the agenda at the upcoming Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Hollywood, Florida, April 16-17. Stay with us at the Diplomat Beach Resort and rub shoulders with entrepreneurs, both large and small and network, learn and grow. Renowned for its trendsetting abilities and influence on the future of cannabis, mark your calendars – this conference is the go-to event of the year for the cannabis world. Get your tickets now on bzcannabis.com – Prices will increase very soon!

Photo by Pixabay