cannabisnews.com: Canadian Can't Join U.S. Wife Canadian Can't Join U.S. Wife Posted by CN Staff on April 11, 2004 at 08:58:43 PT By Beth Velliquette, The Herald-Sun Source: Herald-Sun Hillsborough -- A Canadian's penchant for pot when he was a teenager in the 1970s has prohibited him from coming to the United States to join his American wife in Hillsborough. The wife, Debbie VanDuzee, says it's just not fair. "If every U.S. citizens had to be in a situation like ours because of smoking pot years ago, we'd all be suffering," she said. VanDuzee, 48, met her husband, Terry, 44, in an Internet chat room in 2002. He lived in New Brunswick, Canada, and she lived near her family in Hillsborough. She has one teenage son who still lives at home, three adult children and one grandchild. After corresponding over the Internet and by telephone, she visited Terry VanDuzee twice in Canada, and the couple fell in love. On her third visit in August 2002, they married. Their plan was for her to stay in Canada with her new husband for three or four months until the paperwork went through for him to join his wife in the United States. But things didn't go according to plan, and now 19 months later, Terry VanDuzee remains in New Brunswick while Debbie lives in Hillsborough. The problem? When Terry VanDuzee was a teenager, he liked to smoke marijuana, and he was arrested and convicted three times for possession of marijuana. One of the convictions doesn't count on his record, and he's received Canadian pardons for all three, Debbie VanDuzee said. "These charges were when he was 17 and 19 years old," she said. "He just had simple counts of possession." The United States, however, has a law that prevents anyone who has had two or more drug convictions from immigrating to the United States. Terry VanDuzee, like many people who smoked pot when they were teenagers, has changed his life dramatically since his teen years, Debbie VanDuzee said. "I would absolutely love it if they would put everybody on lie detector tests and ask them if they ever smoked pot," she said. Terry VanDuzee has 10 years experience working in the IT field and previously taught computer and software classes for companies introducing their employees to new computer programs, according to his résumé. He lost that assignment once his employer learned he was planing to move away. Since he was a teenager, he's not been in any trouble with the law, and now he's active in his church and community, Debbie VanDuzee said. They love each other and want to live together just like any husband and wife, she said. Debbie VanDuzee resists the idea of moving to Canada. Her family and children live in the Hillsborough area and she doesn't want to leave them. The government is asking her to choose between her children and her husband, she said. Debbie VanDuzee has been working in the United States to try to get help for her husband. She's written, telephoned, and faxed letters to government officials begging for their help. On Thursday, VanDuzee faxed letters to President George W. Bush asking for help. It wasn't the first time. She said she continually faxes letters to his office and makes calls to the White House. Terry VanDuzee has been busy on the Canadian side to try to work his way through a new process. He's currently working to obtain a nonimmigrant visa, but that could take many months or years, and there's no guarantee he'll get one, Debbie VanDuzee said. Terry VanDuzee has set up a Web site -- http://www.vanduzee.net -- to tell the world about their story and ask people to sign their petition. Mike Briggs, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. John Edwards's office in Raleigh, said his office is familiar with the case and that a staff member has been working on it. "From what I've gathered, we've been doing what we can to help point her in the right direction," Briggs said. An immigration office in Maine is handling the case and is doing security checks on Terry VanDuzee's application for a nonimmigrant visa. "That takes time," he said. But Debbie VanDuzee is angry nonetheless. Everyday people illegally cross the United States borders and are allow to remain, she said, but her husband isn't allowed to join his wife in the United States. "If you had to be punished continually over all your [life] for things we did as teenagers, we'd all be up a creek," she said. "Terry deserves to be forgiven. Why should he have to suffer the rest of his life for something he did when he was a teenager?" Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)Author: Beth Velliquette, The Herald-SunPublished: April 10, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Herald-SunContact: letters herald-sun.comWebsite: http://www.herald-sun.comRelated Article & Web Site:Terry & Debbie VanDuzeehttp://www.vanduzee.net/Wedded Bliss Stymied by U.S. Drug Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16768.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #13 posted by Max Flowers on April 13, 2004 at 10:48:07 PT SGD, did you get some Trainwreck maybe? The only time in the last 20 years that I've seen people ask if some weed was "laced" was when they got some Trainwreck. That strain is so good that the unprepared seem to always conclude that it has to be laced!One friend of mine I gave some to asked me if the bit of orange peel I put in with it to freshen it up and rehydrate it a little could have imparted a toxic mold to the pot! (it didn't) That was the only way his mind could rationalize the (for him) uncomfortably electric high from it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by phil_debowl on April 12, 2004 at 12:48:43 PT laced weed There is not much of a chance anyone would lace herb with something worth more money and sell it to you at the same price. If it is laced, you won't be able to taste the herb very much because of the overpowering taste of what it's laced with. For example, if it has coke in it, it will taste like ether, which tastes like plastic kind of, very strong. other things taste different, just not like herb, very chemically. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by cloud7 on April 12, 2004 at 05:35:37 PT ... 1991 AD: Cannabis smoking has not been eradicated, yet government officials worldwide vow to redouble their efforts to fulfill the UN treaty. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by E_Johnson on April 12, 2004 at 00:16:21 PT Something conspiracy theorists never thought of!!! My generation practically majored in the Kennedy assassination in college. But we never considered this sequence of events before:1930 AD : Louis Armstrong arrested in Los Angeles for possession of cannabis.1931 AD : Federal Bureau of Narcotics formed with Anslinger at the head. By now 29 US states have banned non-prescription cannabis1934 AD : Anslinger refers to "ginger-haired niggers" in FBI official circulars.1937 AD : Marijuana Tax Act forbids hemp farming. The Act was based on the Machine Gun Transfer Act which made it illegal to pass on machine guns without a government stamp - there being no such stamps available. By applying this strategy to marijuana, Anslinger was able to effectively ban hemp without contravening constitutional rights.1960 AD : Hippies, Vietnam Veterans, pop fans adopt cannabis.1961 AD : UN Treaty 406 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs seeks to outlaw cannabis use and cannabis cultivation worldwide and eradicate cannabis smoking within 30 years (by 1991). USA representative is Anslinger.1962 AD : President Kennedy sacks Anslinger. Kennedy using cannabis as a pain relief.1963 AD : Kennedy assassinated. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by mayan on April 12, 2004 at 00:09:28 PT System... I usually see little green martians dancing on top of my stereo. Actually, I can't really give you an answer but if you have any suspicion that some weed has been laced don't take a chance. Flush it or send it to me and I will properly dispose of it.Sorry if this has been posted....Drug control official urges schools to adopt drug testing: http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=cf62f40c-0abe-421a-01c6-e3756494e57f&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bfHere's a very cool link I just found on rense...Chronology of Cannabis Hemp: http://www.ccguide.org.uk/chronol.htmlThe way out is the way in...Bush faces fresh claims he knew of al-Qa'ida attacks before 9/11: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=510481The Artful Dodger: http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=208&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0Top 27 Pieces of Evidence that Show Rice Perjured Herself in Front of the 9/11 Commission: http://www.dailynewsonline.com/founder_ball_tom/2004_04_09_archive_article.php#108153301483552924Condi Rice - Professional Asslicker: http://www.americaoverthrown.com/rice.html9/11 ''Investigative Panel'' is a Council on Foreign Relations Op: http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1664A Flag is not a Blindfold - Are Americans The Victims Of A Hoax? http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/blindfold.htmlDisputing Rice testimony: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-rice0410,0,3695500.story?coll=ny-nation-big-pixSeattle Security Officials Unaware Of Threats Mentioned By Rice: http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?id=30728Rush Limbaugh: 9/11 Families Used, Coached, Exploited: http://www.tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=56&mode=&order=0&thold=0 [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by BGreen on April 11, 2004 at 23:23:13 PT Smell and Sight, SystemGoneDown Know your grower or grow your own if you want to be certain.Heavily crystallized cannabis can leave a tan powder residue which could mistaken for a foreign substance, but the hashy taste tells you what it is.The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by SystemGoneDown on April 11, 2004 at 18:55:26 PT Quick Question... How can you tell if your weed has been laced with something? [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Dark Star on April 11, 2004 at 18:12:32 PT Hash in California According to the Attorney General, hashish is a derivative of cannabis and legal for qualified patients in California under state law. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Cannabis Enthusiast on April 11, 2004 at 16:41:18 PT Medicinal Bubble Hash? Is bubble hash legal for medical use in California? Bubble Bags - Cold Water Hash Extraction [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on April 11, 2004 at 13:52:57 PT Comparing BBC to NYT The problem the NYT always has to overcome in their struggle to do good journalism is their own sense of importance. They only like stories and facts that make the NYT look more important, and that's their Achilles heel.With the BBC is it their overwhelming sense of intellectual and social superiority to everyone else and everything else in the world that trips them up and keeps them from doing factual objective journalism and turns their best stories into melodrama about the moral failings of the lesser classes.The NYT on the other hand just plain ignores facts that they think make them look less important or would danmage their ability to get high level sources in the political system to talk to them.This is what we have to work with. Sigh. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Cannabis Enthusiast on April 11, 2004 at 13:25:23 PT Khat lovers Interesting article on BBC... Khat lovers [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by afterburner on April 11, 2004 at 11:36:09 PT: More Green Truth Green Truth Summit 5: Green Truth Summit with Pot-TV http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2613.html Running Time: 23 min Date Entered: 08 Apr 2004 "Marc-Boris St. Maurice and the Marijuana Party state their views on pot and politcs at The Green Truth Summit. Question and answer period in a press conference format. filmed by Tim Meehan and Brian Perdue Pot-TV" [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Marc Paquette on April 11, 2004 at 09:41:17 PT: Well, he's not the only one! Hi my Friends :o);Well, this gentleman is not the only one that has the same predicament. Any Canadian that was charged for pot in his or her life is registered in US for ever! Even a Canadian pardon (after 6 years) in not recognized in the US! You are marked for life with cannabis..isn't that horrible? A bank robber, child molester, rapist and murderer can cross the border..but not a convicted pot smoker.What a shame!Peace,Marc http://www.medpot.net [ Post Comment ] Post Comment