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 offence, 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
travellers 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 defence
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 travellers have? It's a
timely reminder that carrying even trace amounts of banned drugs on
trips abroad can invite a world of trouble.