Feds Say Tourist Who Admitted To Prior Marijuana Use In Legal Places Was Denied Entry To US Over Drugs—Not Bald JD Vance Meme

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is clarifying that the reason its
agents denied entry to the U.S. for a Norwegian man wasn’t over a meme of a
bald Vice President J.D. Vance that they found on his phone, despite
reports to the contrary. Rather, it was because he admitted to previously
using illegal drugs—which the tourist says was merely marijuana in legal
jurisdictions.

Mads Mikkelsen was denied entry at a port of entry in New Jersey earlier
this month. And it made global headlines because, after he was confronted
with a meme of Vance on his phone by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)
agents, it was reported that he was turned away from the country for
political reasons.

DHS and CBP have refuted that claim, however, sharing posts on Tuesday that
push back against the reporting.

“FACT CHECK. Claims that Mads Mikkelsen was denied entry because of a meme
are unequivocally FALSE,” DHS said. “TRUTH: Mikkelsen was refused entry
into the U.S. for his admitted drug use. Only those who respect our laws
and follow the rules will be welcomed into our country.”

Mikkelsen said that, upon questioning, he admitted to using cannabis in
Mexico and Germany, he told the Norwegian newspaper Nordlys.

“It’s legal in both places, so in my mind it was irrelevant,” he said.
“It’s a legal substance where it was taken—just like alcohol.”

He also claimed that a document explaining his denied entry contained at
least two falsehoods: One, that he had a passport from Spain, when he is a
Norwegian citizen who has never visited Spain. And second, that he
physically possessed a pipe at the time of his entry, when CBP simply found
a photo of a pipe on his phone.

While marijuana remains federally prohibited, the department’s reasoning
for denying the tourist are nonetheless notable.

It’s not clear when Mikkelsen’s prior marijuana use took place, but even by
CBP’s own policy, applicants to work at the agency itself are only
ineligible for employment if they’ve used controlled substances, including
cannabis, within three years of their application.

Fact Check: FALSE

Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any memes or political reasons, it
was for his admitted drug use. pic.twitter.com/is9eGqILUq

— CBP (@CBP) June 24, 2025

This is one of the latest cannabis-related controversies involving DHS and
CBP.

In January, just before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, DHS and CBP urged
a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from licensed New Mexico marijuana
businesses who claim the agencies have been unconstitutionally seizing
state-regulated marijuana products and detaining industry workers at
interior checkpoints.

Representatives of eight New Mexico marijuana businesses jointly filed the
lawsuit against the federal government last October in the U.S. District
Court for the District of New Mexico. That action came months after initial
reports emerged of CBP agents increasingly taking cannabis products and
other assets from state licensees at border checkpoints throughout the
state.

The controversy also caught the attention of certain congressional
lawmakers. For example, Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) sought to amend
appropriations legislation covering DHS by explicitly preventing U.S.
border patrol agents from using funds to seize marijuana from
state-licensed businesses.

Last April, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) could be heard
saying on a leaked recording that she was “offended” when the secretary of
the DHS reacted to her concern about the recent surge in CBP seizures of
marijuana from legal operators in her state by saying, “Who cares? They
make a lot of money.”

“Although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S.
States and Canada, the sale, possession, production and distribution of
marijuana or the facilitation of the aforementioned remain illegal under
U.S. federal law, given the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I
controlled substance,” a CBP spokesperson told Marijuana Moment last
year. ”Consequently, individuals violating the Controlled Substances Act
encountered while crossing the border, arriving at a U.S. port of entry, or
at a Border Patrol checkpoint may be deemed inadmissible and/or subject to,
seizure, fines, and/or arrest.”

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*Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.*

The post Feds Say Tourist Who Admitted To Prior Marijuana Use In Legal
Places Was Denied Entry To US Over Drugs—Not Bald JD Vance Meme appeared
first on Marijuana Moment.