VANCOUVER ANTI-DRUG OFFICIAL ARRESTED FOR HASHISH POSSESSION

UNITED NATIONS -- An anti-narcotics official from Vancouver is being
held in Dubai after being arrested for possessing hashish and poppy flowers.

A Dubai court will rule Tuesday on drug charges against Bert Tatham,
35, who was arrested on his way back to Vancouver after helping
farmers in Afghanistan find alternatives to poppy cultivation.

Tatham is accused of carrying 0.6 grams of hashish -- an almost trace
amount that his lawyers said had inadvertently become attached to his
clothing because of the nature of his work.

Dubai authorities also said Tatham had two, two-year-old dried poppy
flowers, which have no utility to make opium or heroin, and traces of
narcotics in his blood.

Dubai has zero tolerance toward drug possession.

Tatham was returning to his home in Vancouver in late April to join
his fiancee, Sarah of Victoria, and plan their marriage.

His family is preparing to launch a campaign for his release if he is
convicted of possessing narcotics. He would face a sentence of at
least four years.

"I'm on the computer all day, and we're working like crazy for him,"
said Tatham's mother, Louise, from her home in Collingwood, just
north of Toronto.

"We have to respect their laws, [but] if he is convicted, we'll then
start with publicity because we have to get him out."

Chuck Tatham, Bert's brother, said in Toronto he is not surprised
that hashish traces ended up attached to his brother's clothes.

"He laundered his clothes and was fastidious, but the stuff is
everywhere," he said. "People would give him some after meetings, and
to avoid being discourteous, he would accept it, and dispose of it later.

"But he was not a user. He has observed the evils of drugs -- and he
has spoken to me a number of times about the devastation they have
caused in the region."

He speculated his brother planned to use the poppies as props in lectures.