BEWARE WHAT YOU REVEAL OF YOUR PAST

U.S. Border Guard Googled Vancouver Psychotherapist

Andrew Feldmar, a Vancouver psychotherapist, took his first hit of
acid in 1967 at the age of 27.

He took his last seven years later.

Anyone can learn this within minutes of doing a Google search of
Feldmar's name -- personal information he says he'll never divulge
online again after learning the hard way that it can, and will, be
used against you.

The 66-year-old is now barred from entering the U.S. after a border
guard did a Web search last summer and read about Feldmar's
experimental drug use from more than three decades ago.

"I thought it was unfair, unjust and an abuse of power, to lock me
out of the States indefinitely. And one person had that power without
any due process," said Feldmar.

The incident occurred last August at the Peace Arch border crossing
when Feldmar was travelling to the Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport to pick up a friend.

He says he's made more than 100 trips to the U.S., where his son and
daughter live, and has never been denied entry over his drug use from long ago.

Feldmar, who has no criminal record, has not used illegal drugs since
1974. He adds that when he did use narcotics it was for research --
not recreational -- purposes.

The benefits and risks of LSD therapy have been debated by scientists
for years and at one time was widely distributed to researchers
looking into its potential for treating alcoholism.

Feldmar says he also took LSD and other drugs in order to speak with
more authority to young people dealing with drug addiction.

In 2001, he wrote about this experience in the scholarly journal
Janus Head, which the U.S. border guard discovered after doing a Google search.

After admitting he was the article's author, Feldmar was held for
four hours, fingerprinted and asked to sign a statement verifying his
drug use, before being sent home.

Mike Milne, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said
"admitted drug users are inadmissable to the United States -- that's the law."

And while Google is not a primary tool used by border officials, they
will use whatever technology is available to them, said Milne.

Feldmar has the option of applying for a waiver to regain entry to
the U.S. -- but he refuses to do so.

"The waiver I said I'm not going to go for because it's costly, it's
temporary and it's degrading. I'd have to have someone write on my
behalf that I've been rehabilitated. Rehabilitated from what?" he says.