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Travelers beware
By Hempology | June 22, 2007
Globe and Mail
20 Jun 2007
DUBAI’S ZERO TOLERANCE
Bert Tatham was on his way back to Canada from Afghanistan on April 23 when he made what he thought would be a brief stopover in Dubai to do some shopping. Instead, he was arrested at the airport and charged with a serious drug offense, which must have come as a shock, considering his work as a United Nations anti-narcotics consultant in Afghanistan. On Tuesday, he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for possessing 0.6 grams of hashish and two dried poppy bulbs of no value. His case and its outcome are instructive for all travelers in this shrinking world.
Fairly or unfairly, Mr. Tatham, 35, is the latest victim of the zero-tolerance drug laws being rigidly enforced in many Middle Eastern and Asian countries today, including the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part. In another case, a 24-year-old Italian visitor was found guilty last month of smuggling and possession of .01 grams of hashish, an amount so absurdly small that it would not have been noticed if he had worn it on his sleeve. He, too, got the maximum four-year sentence. He pleaded he had forgotten he had the stuff in his pockets.
Plainly, arguing that this was only the residue of drugs consumed elsewhere carried no weight with the judges. But Mr. Tatham’s defense was based on a somewhat sounder ground. He argued that as part of his job he regularly handled hashish and other illicit drugs, which are ubiquitous in Afghanistan. It was inevitable that some of the dust would end up on his clothes and be inhaled into his lungs, which could have accounted for his failed urine test. And the two dried poppy bulbs he carried were solely “for experiments and education.”
The court was not moved by his explanation. If an anti-narcotics expert cannot make a persuasive case that he accidentally acquired some drug residue as part of the process of eradicating mountains of the stuff, what hope do ordinary Canadian travelers have? It’s a timely reminder that carrying even trace amounts of banned drugs on trips abroad can invite a world of trouble.
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