CANADIAN CAN'T JOIN U.S.  WIFE

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 resume.  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?"