Burned by the Man

[professorzed]

I had a ticket for Reno Saturday morning before the week of Burning Man. I had a
ride arranged up to the playa, my luggage was paid for and I had two
nights in a hotel already paid for (no refund). I had already paid $100 deposit on getting a ride back to Toronto in an RV. However, I had a
problem in customs.

The woman at the desk waved and smiled and said
"Have a nice time in Phoenix."

I corrected her and said "Reno."

The woman's eyes went really big for a second, then she composed
herself.

She gave me a forced smile, and told me to go though the green
doors.

When I got into customs, the very first thing they said to me was
"RENO? BURNING MAN?" He turns to his friends and says "Have you heard
of Burning Man? Oh, we know all about Burning Man! That's when they
Burn the Man. Sometimes though, the man burns you!"

Then they told me to lean against a conveyor belt while they
searched through my stuff. They asked if I had any marijuana on me, and
of course I didn't. However, since I read on the Toronto regional
packing list for Burning Man that rolling papers are hard to obtain in
Nevada, I bought five packs of rolling papers and put them in my carry
on luggage. I thought these would make good gifts.

(Turns out this is false. I called the hotel I had been booked at
and apparently rolling papers are available for sale in Nevada. I am
Canadian I know very little about the laws of the United States, so
when people tell me that they don't sell rolling papers in a certain
state I believe them. I went to the Motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South
Dakota last year and one of the vendors there told me that they stopped selling rolling
papers in that specific town, for the duration of the Motorcycle
rally.)

I also brought seven of my Tobacco pipes with me. This is called a 'seven day set'. The customs officer was
suspicious. "If these are tobacco pipes, where is the tobacco?" I told
him I left all the tobacco at home because I thought it was extra
weight. He said something like "You sure do like to smoke all those
tobacco pipes, don't you James?" I said "Sure."

He asked me what I do for a living, and I told him I was
self-employed. I do airbrushing and silk screening on T-shirts. I was
bringing my airbrushes to Burning Man as well, as part of Sin Camp. I
was supposed to do airbrushing on people as well as shirts. This made
him suspicious. I imagine he was thinking I was planning on setting up
an illegal airbrushing business in Reno.

He asked why I was bringing so much stuff with me. (two 50 lbs.
duffel bags, carry on, and personal item). I told him I had to survive
on my own in the desert for a week. He said 'There's going to be other
people there, won't they all be able to help you out?" I told him that
we were expected to be self-sufficient.

The night before the flight, my family was helping me to pack and
prepare. Everyone in my family were giving me things such as money for
the trip, and goods to give as gifts. The border guy held up a bag of
about fifty tiny red maple-leaf pins and called other border guards
over to see it.. "Would you look at that? What do you make of that?"
The whole concept of 'giving gifts' seemed to make them suspicious.

He was pretty suspicious that I was getting a one way ticket to the
event, and getting a ride back to Toronto in an RV. "You have a lot of
gear packed, and a one way ticket. How do I have any assurance that you
will be coming back into Canada?" "I own a house here (in Canada)" I
told him. He asked me this four times.

I actually had a receipt on me for the deposit for the return trip home, but he neither asked me for it...nor did I think to present it for him.

In the end, the only thing they could deny me access was because I
brought along a bottle of anti-depressant medication. I have been
previously diagnosed with depression, and the doctor gave me these meds a long time ago. The Doctor who prescribed them has since quit her
practice. I didn't think that there would be a problem with bringing
legal prescription drugs across the border.

Now U.S. customs wants a letter from A psychiatrist as well as THEIR DOCTOR, attesting to the fact that my supposed psychiatric condition does not render me a danger to myself or others. This is a problem for me, because I haven't seen a psychiatrist for two years.

Unless I get this form filled out, I will never be permitted into
the United States again, at all, ever. It will cost me $250 to file
this form, and could cost $350 an hour if the Doctor has to call a
lawyer or Psychiatrist. Also, this form has to be renewed every five
years. This puts me in a difficult situation. My best friend married an
American woman, and now lives in the United States. He wanted me to
come and visit with him.

At first, I was confident that I could get this wrapped up in time
to make Burning Man this year. However, it turns out that the U.S.
customs Doctor will be away for this entire week. My father's Doctor friend advised me that I have to be very, very careful about this whole thing, or I will never be allowed into the U.S. ever again. He also told me
that this will take weeks if I am lucky, and most likely months.

I really didn't see this coming. I don't even take the Paxil
anymore, I just tossed it into my bag as a last minute thing. I didn't
see a problem with it, since it is a legal prescription drug.
Really though, it was the only thing that they could bust me for.

I think some of the problems were:

1) Booking a one-way ticket: I had the choice of booking a two-way
ticket, but a fellow Burner from Toronto was offering a ride back in
his RV for about the same price. A cross country trip in an RV seemed
to be more convenient, not to mention more fun. I would not have to catch a ride back to the Reno airport, or get a ride from Toronto, Ontario to Hamilton where I live. The customs guy seemed
to think I was planning on staying, working and living illegally in
Reno though.

2) Rolling papers: It was suggested on the Toronto local list to
pack along rolling papers, since I was falsely informed that they are
hard to get in Nevada. I brought five packs, since I thought they would
be good for gifts. Customs didn't believe me that they were for
tobacco, and they also said that you could buy rolling papers in any
store in Reno (Which seems to be the case).

3) The pipes, although they are tobacco pipes, seemed to be a
problem as well. Apparently, it is very unusual to smoke tobacco in a
pipe anymore.

4) Airbrushes: To U.S. customs, this looked like I intended to live and work illegally in the United States.

5) Bringing the paxil was obviously a very big mistake as well. I really wish I would have flushed all that pharmaceutical crap down the toilet a year ago like I wanted to do. The thing that stopped me was considering that it would end up in everyone else's drinking water.

I have been told that the biggest issue with U.S. customs was getting a one-way ticket. No, this was not 'obvious' to me, as I had no intentions of moving to the United States.

This is a big red flag to the U.S. customs that this
person might be intending to live and work illegally in the United
States. I had no idea that this was the case. I didn't think there
would be a problem with getting a one-way ticket to Reno, then getting
a ride back to Toronto in an RV. From the perspective of customs, I
might not have been stopped at all if I didn't have a one way ticket.
The fact that I was a foreigner with a one-way ticket to the United
States compounded and magnified all of the other things.

I never even suspected that this would be a problem.

[Badger]

I think some of the problems were:

No, the problem was cluelessness.

Cluelessness on your part.

What the FUCK did you think would happen with you coming across the fucking border with packs of rolling papers and multiple goddamn pipes?

Dude, go dig for sympathy somewhere else.

[professorzed]

[quote="Badger"]I think some of the problems were:

No, the problem was cluelessness.

Cluelessness on your part.

What the FUCK did you think would happen with you coming across the fucking border with packs of rolling papers and multiple goddamn pipes?

Dude, go dig for sympathy somewhere else.[/quote]

What did I expect from Tobacco pipes? Nothing.
What did I expect from Cigarette papers? Nothing.

Neither tobacco pipes or cigarette papers are illegal. I'm pretty sure you can buy these legally in the United States as well as Canada.

Then again, in Toronto you can sit in a marijuana cafe downtown and smoke big fat joints on the patio all day without worrying about being arrested. The Police know what's going on and don't care. So there is a sort of 'culture shock' for me coming into the United States.

Honestly, I think the real issue was the one-way ticket. If it would have been a two-way ticket, I wouldn't have been flagged.

I'm not after sympathy. I just don't want other foreigners entering the United States from other countries to make the same mistakes that I did.

[brmannoob]

I think Badger was a littler overzealous in his response.
The items mentioned are all legal, and by themselves should cause no problem - other than to build suspicion on the part of the agent.
The pipes and rolling papers could be seen as drug paraphernalia, a small amount of loose tobacco may have helped.
The airbrushes are an artist's tools, and I doubt would have caused much of a concern on their own.
Paxil shouldn't have been a problem as you had a container showing that it was prescribed - even if sometime ago.
Ultimately, no country (that I'm aware of) is going to be satisfied with one way travel arrangement unless you have an extended visa. Having the receipt was smart. Not showing it was unfortunate.
All-in-all, sounds like bad luck.
I say thanks for posting. Lots for others to learn from here.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

In some states, you can arrested for just having one pipe. I think the professorer was the overzealous person in this case and yes it does suck. Next time keep it low keyed and say you're going to Circus, Circus or don't mention Reno unless they're looking at your tickets.

AIIZ

[brmannoob]

Tobacco Pipes are, I believe, legal in all 50 states; but the point is well-made, Appollonaris.

[KPS1980]

Being naive is the issue. Most law enforcement officials relate to Rambo not Andy Griffith. Their people skills are more military than the average citizen needs. It is rare to find an official that is tune with the person he/she is dealing with vs. following prescribed policies. The laws they follow get pretty drastic when trying to keep the "bad influence" out of their country. I work on a merchant ship. If while home on a four month vacation I get a DUI, I can't be on a merchant ship and enter Canada for the rest of my life!

[changoloco]

Your government has done much, much worse to me. So please, let's not turn this into a "US government is so much worse than the Canadian government because we can sit on the side of the street and smoke joints" thing. The Canadian government won't let me into Canada because I was "charged" with a crime that I did not commit nor was I ever convicted of. They want waaaaaaaaaaaay more money than that for me to ever be allowed into Canada again. I didn't do something as stupid as crossing borders with prescription drugs that I didn't possess a prescription for. "Oh, I'm sorry officer, that's just medical grade morphine in my bag. I swear I have a prescription for it!!" Shouldn't be a problem right? It's a "Legal" prescription drug!! You my friend, epically failed!!!!