Lord Finkelstein Tries Weed For The First Time: Does Smoking In A Legal State Make Him Ineligible For US Visa?

Lord Daniel Finkelstein, a British journalist and politician opened up about trying weed for the first time in a column he wrote in The Times on Monday.

A former chairman of Policy Exchange, Finkelstein, 59, said he'd never consumed weed before a recent visit to Colorado, where it's legal. Why? Because he avoids doing things that are illegal, he said.

Meanwhile, some legal experts are questioning the legality of Finkelstein's decision, considering that cannabis is illegal at the federal level. There is now speculation that this could compromise his future visits to the U.S. ground. Wait, what?

That’s right, smoking pot acquired in a legal cannabis shop in a state with legal recreational use can possibly have some serious consequences for foreigners because federal law is above state law. First things first, let’s see what Finkelstein wrote.

“If you poured all the alcoholic drinks I have consumed in my life into a single pint glass, the liquid wouldn’t reach the rim,” ex-executive director of The Times began. “I don’t smoke. I don’t even drink coffee. And I have never had a joint. Until now. I’m 59. None of this is because I treat my body as a temple. I treat it more like an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. I don’t drink either alcohol or coffee for the same reason that I don’t eat celery. I don’t like the taste very much. I’m not afraid of losing control, because that would overestimate the amount of control I have in the first place.”

Gently Mellow

Finkelstein, who was recently appointed director of Chelsea football club that is currently under new U.S. ownership, wrote that his family “researched the law quite carefully,” to confirm where it is legal to buy cannabis, where they are allowed to smoke it, and who could smoke it, reported The Guardian. Then, he and his eldest son went to a shop called Half-Baked in Boulder and bought a strain of cannabis called Jelly Pie. After a few days, they smoked it. 

“The effect wasn’t great,” he wrote. “It didn’t change my life. After my second drag I told the others that I had now decided I was against capitalism and nuclear weapons, but in truth, I was just the same as before, except very gently mellow.”

Nothing spectacular here, so what seems to be the problem?

Smoking Pot Makes You Ineligible For U.S. Visa

According to Charlotte Slocombe, a partner at the law firm Fragomen and an expert in US immigration law, admitting smoking marijuana provides a reason for U.S. authorities to deny future visas, as they follow federal law. 

If U.S. authorities decide to act, he most likely won’t be the only person denied a visa over the same actions, as so many tourists have been recently drawn to various states that have legalized recreational cannabis use. 

Slocombe said the US embassy “having access to social media could ask questions around the use of drugs, and any admission could lead to becoming inadmissible for a visa”. She added: “You do not need to be convicted to be deemed inadmissible under US immigration,” reported The Guardian. She noted that the visa waiver, or Esta, asks: “Have you ever violated any law related to possessing, using, or distributing illegal drugs?” A positive answer would make the applicant ineligible. 

Although Finkelstein has not officially responded to these comments, when a legal blog wrote about this issue on Twitter, he didn’t seem worried. “They checked my passport before selling me the drug so I don’t think so.” 

Photo: Benzinga Edit; Sources: Policy Exchange - Flickr via Wikimedia, Add Weed and Caspar Rae via Unsplash