VISITORS WARNED AGAINST CARRYING CONTROLLED DRUGS

PEOPLE coming to the UAE are permitted to bring in only small quantities of
regular medicines for personal use. And visitors bringing in controlled
medicines that may contain narcotic chemicals as active ingredients do so
at their own risk, according to Dr Essa Al Mansouri, Director of the Drug
Control Department at the UAE Ministry of Health.

"We allow people to bring in limited quantities of over-the-counter
medicines which are not controlled, but only in small quantities and for
personal use. Of course, if a person coming into the UAE is carrying with
him a banned or controlled medicine, he bears the responsibility for that.

"In some countries, you can 'purchase' a medical prescription for a
controlled drug, so medical prescriptions from abroad are always suspect,"
Dr Al Mansouri told Khaleej Times yesterday.

Judge Mustafa Al Shinawi, from the Court of First Instance and an expert on
drug-related cases, echoed similar sentiments, stating that prescriptions
from abroad were suspect.

He said that the law was clear on the issue of penalising someone found
taking controlled medicines which contained narcotic substances without a
medical prescription from an authorised doctor or medical establishment in
the UAE, even if it was for medical treatment.

Speaking about criminal possession of controlled medicines, Judge Al
Shinawi mentioned details of a case that was recently brought before a
court in Dubai: "A Pakistani man came into the UAE via Dubai International
Airport and was caught with a stack of pills which are listed under
appendices 3, 6, 7 and 8 of Federal Law No. 14 for 1995 as controlled
narcotic medicines. The prosecution charged him with possessing narcotics
with the intent to sell.

"Luckily for him the man did not know what he was carrying. He told the
prosecution that he was asked by a woman in Pakistan to deliver the package
to a third party in Dubai. Placed inside the package along with the pills
was a recorded message in the woman's voice in which she explained that the
man was only a courier, that he did not know what he was carrying and that
he was delivering the pills to a man in Dubai for pain relief. He got off,"
Judge Al Shinawi said.

A fine of Dh10,000 is usually imposed on charges of taking controlled
medicines without a valid prescription, but only if a defendant can produce
evidence that he was taking the medicine for medical treatment. Judge Al
Shinawi stressed, however, that anyone convicted of such an offence might
challenge the conviction at the Dubai Court of Appeals.

"A convicted person can undergo medical examination in the UAE by doctors
or medical establishments authorised by the Ministry of Health, to prove he
has a medical condition that necessitates taking a controlled drug. He can
then present his medical report to the authorities and have the
prescription he brought from abroad authenticated. He can then present that
prescription to the appeal court and win the case," Judge Al Shinawi said.

According to Article 41 of Law No. 14 for 1995, anyone taking substances or
plant extracts of a narcotic nature that are not mentioned in the relevant
appendices, whose effects are sedative or hallucinogenic and cause damage
to the brain, and as long as such a substance was taken with that
intention, then the accused would be liable to criminal prosecution.

Article 41 provides a legal framework for convicting glue-sniffers,
paint-sniffers, Qat chewers and use of any other form of substance designed
to produce similar effects; the penalty for which can be a prison term of
between one to three years.