The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has relaxed some of its tough drug laws, easing penalties for tourists who enter the country with THC-infused products. The new protocol for Dubai travelers is to confiscate and destroy cannabis products instead of imposing hard times.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, announced the new changes on November 27. As part of a series of sweeping changes, those convicted of drug-related crimes can serve time in secure custody offering treatment and education instead of jail time. In addition, the deportation of non-citizens in cases of drug use and possession is no longer mandatory.
Until recently, drug possession was not tolerated to any degree in the UAE. Carrying residual amounts of any drug, including cannabis, could land you years in jail. Just five years ago, four years was the minimum jail term for drug crimes. Highlights regularly called it one of the worst countries with some of the “strictest weed laws”.
But the nation has updated its outdated laws. The new legislation was presented in the Official Gazette. The latest issue of Official Gazette can be downloaded here. First-time offenders will receive minimum three-month sentences under a new approach that hopes to reintegrate “drug users” into society, but also imposes tougher sentences on repeat offenders.
The OOfficial newspaper is a periodical published by the Government of Dubai through the Supreme Legislation Committee (SLC). According to the government website, it contains all laws issued by the government of Dubai including laws, decrees, resolutions, regulations, regulations, instructions and ordinances.
Carrying food, drink or any other product containing cannabis will no longer be a criminal offence. Instead, these items will simply be confiscated and destroyed. The United Arab Emirates had previously reduced minimum sentences for cannabis by four years to two in 2016.
national newswhich reports from the United Arab Emirates, announced that the new legislation will come into force on January 2. combined jail and fine is mandatory,” said Dr Hasan Elhais, of Al Rowaad Advocates, Told national news.
“We can clearly see a recognition of the need for a coordinated approach that considers criminal justice and public health with respect to drug use,” Dr Elhais said. “While justice is at the heart of the new law, we can also see how the issue of drug use is seen as a disease rather than a crime.”
Americans in Dubai
Americans tend to run into a bit of culture shock in the UAE: for example, it’s illegal to say “fuck” in public or take pictures of people without their permission. The same goes for the degree of cannabis sanction.
Last April, the American Peter Clark found himself in legal danger for having tested positive for cannabinoids, while he consumed them in the United States. The website “Detained in Dubai”a group founded by Radha Stirling, claims to have “helped thousands of victims of injustice over the past 10 years”.
It was there Highlights heard about the case of Clark, who learned the hard way that Dubai doesn’t gamble with cannabis. Unfortunately, that was before the law of the land was updated.
“I was absolutely stunned to learn that I was being charged due to residual marijuana in my system. I smoked it legally in America long before I even got on the plane,” he told the Daily Mail. “I knew about the strict drug laws in Dubai, but never for a moment did I think that anything I did legally in my own country would lead to my arrest.”
With the new national drug laws, it is clear that times have changed.
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