U.S. Customs Officials Deny Entry to Canadian Man Who Won Super Bowl Trip Over 30-Year-Old Pot Bust, $50 Fine

Myles Wilkinson (Photo: CBC)

The Federal statute of limitations on drug-related crimes is only five years, but for one unfortunate ex-convict, some drug offenses last forever. In fact, some drug offenses can undo a once-in-a-lifeteme award. Yahoo Sports reports:

 Myles Wilkinson won a fantasy football contest to attend Super Bowl XLVII, but his dreams of going to the big game went up in smoke because of a 1981 pot bust.[...]

Wilkinson, a Seattle Seahawks fan from Vancouver Island, beat out almost four million other players to win the trip to see the San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens. But when he got to the airport on Thursday, U.S. customs agents brought up an arrest the man had when he was 19. They denied him entry to the country and ended any chance of making it down to New Orleans for a memorable weekend.

The Canadian website CBC adds this to the story:

When he got to Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Thursday, U.S. customs agents learned of a marijuana possession conviction in Vancouver in 1981 and told him he was not allowed to enter the country.

"I had two grams of cannabis. I paid a $50 fine," Wilkinson told CBC news.

Wilkinson said he was 19 when he was busted.

"I can't believe that this is happening, for something that happened 32 years ago."

Wilkinson's denial of entry into the U.S. is a common story, according to Dana Larsen, director of the Sensible B.C. campaign, a group advocating for the decriminalization of marijuana.

"There's hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have these criminal records for small amounts of cannabis and that results in a lifetime ban for accessing the U.S."

Do you think it's fair that Wilkinson was kept out of the United States because of a three decade old drug bust? Weigh in below.