Brit Tourist Caged For 10Yrs In Dubai For Carrying CBD

Story ByMichael Leidig, Sub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyCentral European News 

A British woman’s appeal against a 10-year sentence for smuggling over 4 kilogrammes of CBD cannabis oil through Dubai international airport has been rejected.

Lawyers for the woman argued that she had made no attempt to hide the CBD oil pods and because it is legal in the UK may well not have realised she was committing an offence. But the court were apparently unmoved by the fact that under British law if the oil has a THC – the psychoactive compound found in ‘regular’ cannabis – content of below 0.02 percent it is indeed legal.

Picture Credit: CEN

The decision means that the 31-year-old woman, who was not named but who was arrested last April with 4.4 kilogrammes of CBD oil, will have to serve the 10-year sentence and also pay a 50,000 AED fine (10,400 GBP).

The court heard that she had a total of 307 pods of marijuana oil, which is extracted from hemp and which is legal in some countries but not in others. Also known as cannabidiol (CBD), it is smoked in e-cigarettes. It only contains trace amounts of the psychoactive compound THC which is found in ‘regular’ cananbis.

Authorities also found 1.4 grammes of cocaine powder in the woman’s luggage.

The initial jail term and fine by the Dubai Court of First Instance was appealed by her lawyer, who pointed out that she had the pods in clear sight and had not attempted to hide them, proving that she did not realise she was breaking the law and that it was illegal in the UAE.

The rejection of her appeal and request for a lighter sentence will have implications for other travellers caught out in the same way, including two Americans who were also caught with CBD oil early last year.

One of those was a 33-year-old man that had 11 pods and the second was a 42-year-old man who had 675 g of CBD oil in 37 pods that was arrested in September.

The director of the Anti-Narcotics Department at Dubai Police Eid Thani Hareb said such cases were on the rise, and urged people to make note of the sentences and to realise that it was illegal in Dubai.

He said that they had already seen an increase at the start of last year and that there had been a significant increase in comparison with 2018.

Statistics provided by customs officials showed that there were 87 incidents in which CBD oil was confiscated in the first quarter of 2019 compared to just seven for the whole of 2018.

Defending the criminalisation of cannabis oil, the director of the passenger operations department in Dubai, Ebrahim Al Kamali, said: “Raising awareness around the hazards and bad effects of narcotics is very important, especially among young people.

“Our inspection officers have a very high level of training and skill which enables them to detect these substances efficiently, with the help of highly advanced devices. This is part of our vision of protecting society from the hazards of these dangerous substances.”

The Passenger Operations Department of Dubai Customs later announced in May that 87 seizures of marijuana oil were made in the first quarter of 2019 compared to just seven in 2018.

Dubai is known for its tough stance on anything regarded as drugs and alcohol, where residents can consume it only if they have an alcohol licence and tourists can buy and drink alcohol in licensed venues such as hotels, restaurants and clubs. Aside from that, it is also illegal.

The UK Foreign Office reminded travellers they would face prosecution if they brought CBD into the Emirates.

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