Dubai: US Citizen Pinched for Hash-Laced Gummy Bears

A US citizen is in court in the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai for possession of gummy-bear sweets laced with hashish, the United Arab Emirates’ The National newspaper reported Dec. 20.

Prosecutors told the Dubai Criminal Court that the defendant, identified only as “J D,” had brought the cannabis candy in from the US. Working as a manager in the Emirates, JD was busted in July at a cafe by narcotics officers acting on a tip. He was apparently intimidated into accompanying the officers to his residence, where he spilled the beans—or the bears. “He opened his fridge and picked up a plastic bag full of gummy bears,” testified a police major. Nonetheless, in his court appearance this week, JD pleaded ignorance. “I used it but I didn’t know what it was at the time because it was inside the sweets,” JD told the judges.

The Emirates take a very tough stand on cannabis. Gulf Today reported Dec. 21 that an Emirati soldier who brokered a hashish sale was sentenced to life imprisonment along with its partner. The duo were busted in January after selling hashish to an undercover agent.

More perversely still, The National reported earlier this month that a tourist from India who was found not guilty of smoking hashish in his hotel room last year was just sentenced to four years in prison after prosecutors successfully appealed his acquittal—which of course would violate the “double jeopardy” clause in the United States and most Western democracies.