Marijuana Legalization — What Does It Mean for Foreign Nationals?
On November 8, 2016, California passed Proposition 64, known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. Proposition 64 decriminalizes certain marijuana offenses for persons age 21 and older, and reduces certain minor marijuana offenses to infractions for persons 18 to 20 years of age. Employers of foreign nationals, and foreign nationals themselves, should be aware of how the legalization of marijuana in California and other states applies to foreign nationals. For nonimmigrants (those in the U.S. on a temporary visa, such as H-1B, L-1, O-1, F-1, etc.) or Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders), the legalization of marijuana in many U.S. states does not have the same impact as it does for U.S. citizens. Although the use of medical marijuana or marijuana in general may be legal in your state, at the federal level, marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, and is illegal. Because immigration is also regulated by federal law and not state law, your legal use of marijuana under state law can still impact your immigration status, which is regulated under federal law.
Again, this is true even for green card holders. And, it is true for both recreational use and medicinal use of marijuana.
It is also critical to note that we are not just talking about convictions. A conviction of a federal law relating to marijuana makes a foreign national deportable. But, a foreign national can also be found to be inadmissible even if they admit having used marijuana (for example, when being interviewed by an officer while attempting to enter the U.S.)
Employers should make sure that their foreign national employees (including green card holders) are aware of this intersection of federal and state law.