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Drug user sentenced to four years in jail

ABU DHABI — The Federal Supreme Court has upheld the verdict given by the Court of First Instance sentencing a man to four years in prison for taking drugs and slapping a fine of Dh1,000 on him for driving under the influence of drugs.

The Public Prosecution accused Khalid Juma of consuming hashish and heroin and driving his car in Dubai under the influence of drugs. It demanded that the defendant be prosecuted as per the Shariah Law and federal anti-narcotics laws.

Investigations conducted by the Ajman Police Anti-Narcotics Department confirmed that the defendant was in possession of heroin. The officer obtained a permission from the prosecution for inspection and taking a test sample of urine of the defendant. The police found contraband weighing three milligrams inside the defendants’ car, a soft tracing paper often used for rolling hashish, a plastic thread that could contain traces of hashish, and sedatives.

The urine test showed traces of hashish and other substances as well as other heroin-based products. The defendant admitted that he bought the hashish from an Iranian man for Dh250 and other items worth Dh500. He confessed to consuming hashish for four years. The other sedatives, he claimed, were prescribed to him by a health clinic. The Court of First Instance sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of Dh1,000 for driving his vehicle under the influence of drugs. In his appeal, he urged the Ajman Court of Appeal to admit him to a hospital for treatment, but the Federal Supreme Court rejected the appeal. He contested the verdict, saying that the supervisory committee of the addiction treatment recommended placing him at a rehabilitation centre due to his desire to quit addiction and the availability of a social support environment. He argued that the court didn’t consider this, despite its importance.

The Federal Supreme Court refuted his allegation, noting that the defendant had taken the prescribed medicines for treatment of addiction at the same day of his arrest to conceal his crime of consuming hashish. It added that he had the opportunity to treat himself from addiction, but he was not serious. The court affirmed that it is up to the competent court to decide on sending him or not to a hospital for treatment and the apex court has no right to reconsider this. As the defendant was a frequent offender, the court turned down the appeal.

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