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A Briton, traveling through Dubai on his way to England, was arrested and sentenced to 4 years in jail, for having a microscopic piece of cannabis stuck to the bottom of one of his shoes. Keith Brown by name, this guy was stopped while he was walking through the Dubai airport and searched with high tech equipment.
The search revealed a piece of cannabis on the bottom of one of his shoes, too small to be seen with the naked eye, weighing only 0.003 grams.
With their zero-tolerance policy when it comes to drugs, UAE did this kind of thing before. Just to show you how insane this is, another man was thrown in jail in the past for having in his possession three poppy seeds, left from a lunch he had before he left England.
Another man that had in his pocket a similar speck of cannabis last November is still waiting for his sentence.
Easy…never ever travel to or through Dubai. I’d fly way out of my way to avoid it! Actually, I can think of other countries I feel that way about. This is a sad state of world affairs.
Maybe he should read up on foreign laws before entering the country… Or maybe Dubai should stop being douchebags.
Copying what the Narcs in the US would LOVE to do but typical of their brain-damaged religion,(*any* religion qualifies) they take things to obscene extremes. Boycott the bastards. Don’t take their calls, either.
Dubai sucks
Let’s bomb those dogmatic intolerant bastards!!
The U.S.A. has the SAME zero tolerance laws, would these statements apply to us?
I agree with Sgt.Arms
Don’t be stupid tattrat. We have laws but no one is going to jail for some dust on their shoes. Period.
So no, the statements don’t apply.
“Dubai sucks”
are you kidding? have even read anything about that place? that place is incredible. this is one of it’s bad points, but if you’ve ever seen the plans for upcoming buildings and attraction you’d be awestruck. i really really want to go there.
and aside from this, the UAE, as a muslim country, are generally quite liberal.
And the UK gov’t isn’t demanding his release? The UN isn’t intervening? The EU? Amnesty International?
Jeez. I probably have .003 grams of canabis in my nostrils and my ass crack and my hair, and my teeth and under my fingernails. And I just took a shower! WTF?
I don’t think I own a single piece of clothing without that much pot on it. No travelling to Dubai for me.
No, in the US, marijuana is only an intense penalty if the person caught with it has over an ounce, or has the intent to distribute.
The UAE happily detain people with prescription drugs that are legal in their country of origin.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7234786.stm
One of the real shockers was the guy who dropped four poppy seeds from his bread roll at breakfast before flying - he got 4 years in jail !
excuse me. Al. law, a simple possession #2 automatic felony #3 Habitual Offender 10-life. can be enforced for a seed..
@loophole
Did you *read* the article? Doesn’t it make you question what the rest of the country is really like? Hey, here are 20 more reasons to stay the hell away from that place: http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/94/art_20_Reasons_Not_Move_to_Dubai.html
I’d give him 10 years. Americans need to learn to respect other countries’ laws and religion. Good for UAE that it’s not making any compromises.
[...] the internet. For example, I just found a website who’s aim is much like mine. Take a look at Absolute Random. Man, talk about zero tolerance…. Poor [...]
I hate how some countries will go to the extremes to enforce “drug polices”. Seriously, Cannabis is no more harmful than a carrot or tomato yet it is treated worse than cocaine and meth. Pisses me off how people are so misinformed and many peoples lives are being destroyed because of it. People need to learn and look into things themselves instead of relying on what their government says.
@Alan
1. His British; it’s stated in the first sentence. Lern 2 reed.
2. Screw your religion and laws if they allow or enforce this kind of stupidity.
Poppey seeds from lunch? Come on now… That’s a little to much.
For everybody who believes there would be a big difference between Dubai and the U.S. check out this link:
http://www.rebas.se/writings/ifeelsafenow.shtml
I hear you say “its not the same”, but is it not the same stupidity how America and Dubai handle things? A different penalty and different laws, but zero tolerance means sitching the brain off. And what do you think how far away the U.S. are from changing the status quo to the situation in Dubai.
Europe is laughing their ass off when taking a look to america right now
All right folks, if you are traveling through another country its as simple as knowing there laws. And I remember the whole poppy seed incident so yeah if I was doing anything like that I would be sure to avoid that country. For all those Americans on here screaming thats horrible and Dubai sucks, I hate how you give us all a bad name. Most Americans are happy to be a country based on freedom of choice and religion, yet here you are blasting another country for its religion and choice to be 0 tolerant of drugs. If he had it on his shoe then he was probably around it, and if that picture is anything like he was wearing when they searched him he was practically asking to be searched. That being said I still think it sucks but if you travel international, you really should scope out what will get you in trouble. For example, I’m diving in Japan and was happy to learn that if I came up with so much as a sea-shell and a local cop just happened to see it, I would be fined, my gear impounded, and if I was in a vehicle at the time the vehicle impounded as well. Doesn’t mean I don’t keep a shell here and there, just means I am being a lot more careful. Mr Cannabis shoe there should of done the same.
Come to Canada where the bud is the best not only for quality but also for price, it’s decriminalized throughout and Whyte Ave in Edmonton Alberta has some of the best headshops East of the Rocky mountains.
Muslims are idiots, those people cant be educated anyway. Stupid people do stupid things. who cares, let them rot is that desert hell.
To those dumbasses who say that he should have known that country’s rules before going to the airport, ever considered that because it was on the bottom of his shoe, maybe he stepped on it while walking around the airport. What the *^&% are you supposed to do to prevent something like that.. *rolleyes*
>Poppey seeds from lunch? Come on now… That’s a little to much.
It’s called a bagel.
Yes, the poppy seed ones do test positive for opiates.
Actually they are bastards. If they have any reason to blood or urine test you (and they can do it without a warrant), and they find traces of cannabis or marijuana, they will punish you for drug possession.
Basically they’re just a bunch of egotistical fuckwits.
Even if you don’t believe in global climate change, this is enough reason to develop alternative fuel/energy sources. Stop buying their oil and let these inbreed nitwits eat sand.
Hey Wolf. Try renting a little common sense or intelligence before submitting a response. There is a difference between intent to possess and unknowingly and unintentionally possessing a trace amount of an ilegal substance. What is the point in punishing someone for unintentionally possessing a substance that (even if you are that uptight about it) would not be seen if you searched yourself for it. If they need high tech equipment to see it themselves, what harm could he have done with a trace amount anyway. This kind of government simply puts innocent law abiding citizens in fear of leaving home or sneezing too loud. You really need to stay where antiquated and unnecessarily rigid laws prevail because you seem to be happy in your stupidity. Come to my corner of the world and we’ll see if we can have you arrested for breathing too much. See Websters Dictionary for the big words if it isn’t illegal where you live.
Dubai airport is terrible i dont know why anyone would go there.
I passed through on my way to Australia and there was nowhere to sit down it smelled like tobacco smoke and there was nothing to do.
This is like arresting someone for having a few micrograms of cocain on a banknote.
Drug dealers must make an absolute fortune over there. If their government thinks having zero tolerance means no one takes drugs they’re wrong, all it will do is make prices of illicit substances huge. And as if there’s no corruption to boot..
“I’d give him 10 years. Americans need to learn to respect other countries’ laws and religion. Good for UAE that it’s not making any compromises.”
The guy’s a Brit.
Read the fucking article. Faggot.
Wolf: “…if that picture is anything like he was wearing when they searched him he was practically asking to be searched.”
Yeah, that’s called profiling… Are you trying to suggest that because he’s wearing three specific colors often associated with Africa that he’s Rastafarian and therefore a huge stoner? Ok, then by your rules anyone with a flag from Ethiopia, Ghana, or Lithuania should be immediately searched for drugs… Seems fair to me!
.003 grams of weed = 1 penny or less?
4 years of jail = alot more than a penny!
SO…
Does he go to jail in the UAE and waste their oil money or do they send him home (Legally they probably have to) and wastes Britains money.
Someone write back and tell me how dumb and ignorant I am because I live in America
To all those people who say that he should have read up on locals laws: He was arrested for .003 ounces! That’s too small to see with your naked eye. Even if he spent hours scrutinizing his shoes, he still would not have found it. He probably wouldn’t have found it with a microscope either (as if anyone’s going to use a microscope to check their clothing for trace amounts of contraband), since it was inside his shoe lace. These people use extremely sensitive equipment to find this. This treatment is barbaric and insane; there is no excuse for it.
Sad sad day in history. I don’t know how Dubai looks nor will I bother to google it, but if one gets arrested for not committing a crime (such as unknown possession of “drugs” - what if u mistakenly stepped on some bud while visting ur friend? or for crying out loud, u have sealed bagels that ur mom made or whatever)… then the country is probably not worth visiting as the fun is actually very minimal, if any at all.
Alan, you are a fucking tosser. Peace
Not good for Dubai’s reputation considering they will be relying on tourism For Capitol after the oil is gone. They are going to have to lighten up if they want anyone to take the “Risk” of traveling there because of there silly laws. Im assuming that they are trying to attract families to Dubailand and I think fear of never returning home may set in for your average pothead. Wake up and look at the statistics people!!!!!!
this is entertaining. To Islam haters and calling them idiots, they had batteries before Rome was thought of. Muslims created algebra and the numeral system we use. They were performing eye surgery before 900A.D.. The problem was they decided to take a strict fundamentalist view of the Quran around 900A.D.. Then everything went downhill. Also, laws are laws, plain and simple. I am sure they think it is stupid how Mcdonalds is sued for a lady spilling hot coffee on her. I am sure they think it is stupid how our celebrities get only fines for crimes other people would be sent to jail. They stick to their laws. Here, anyone with enough fame or fortune can get off with only community service.
Fuck Dubai.
This bowl’s for all the poor bastards stuck in that fucking islamic police state.
Dubai is now on the SHITLIST
all of you who say that you should know the countries laws before entering it, a poppy-seed bagel come on, stepping on a bit of herb even if you checked yourself a hundred times over how would you know. These arrests are ignorant and for lack of a better word retarded. FUCK DUBAI
Rich bastards in Dubai want to create the ultimate 21st century city in a sand box, investing billions upon billions of dollars. Why not? Las Vegas did it, why can’t they? The difference is that in Las Vegas people can actually have fun. I feel sorry for the investors. Nobody will want to go to Dubai if they can’t even smoke a little joint while they’re there.
man…all i can say is unlucky dude, could have happened to anyone.
peAce
Honestly, most of you who hate the Americans are worse than the idiots that live there. You assume that because somebody is ignorant or intolerant that he/she is an American. So what does that say about how ignorant and intolerant you are?
Loki, I’m neither an Islam hater, nor a Rome lover, but I think you may have received some bad information. Rome was founded over 1000 years before Muhammad was born. So, I’m pretty sure that whenever Muslims invented batteries (?!?!) it was long after Rome was first thought of, rose to power, and then fell. Maybe instead of “Islam” or “Muslims” you meant to say “Arabs” (or Persians even)? Being Arab is not the same as being Muslim. And batteries? C’mon. You must mean batteries like a collection of weapons. Anyway, that sucks, I totally wanted to go to Dubai before I read this. They have an indoor ski mountain, and a peninsula shaped like a palm tree.
I think he means them pots with acid and bars of metal in or something.
Well it was actually the egyptians who invented them.
your telling me these rich arabs dont snort coke off the woman they kidnap ?
please !
pffsh the drug addict should have never tried to smuggle is operation into Dubai in the first place.
The dude should have bought new threads before leaving.If the rules are that twisted, that pothead should’ve known he had residue on his clothes and wised up.
He is screwed
[...] have weed stuck to your shoe! You could end up in jail! Man Thrown In Jail In Dubai, For Having 0.003 Grams Of Cannabis Stuck To His Shoe Attached Images [...]
Hah! And to think I once - not too long ago - entered Dubai with 3 whole joints of weed hidden in the frame of my rucksack… I even saw them, clear as day, on the airport scanner, but the officer was luckily too busy gossiping with another cop to look carefully…
he had 20 pounds worth of skunk, he got it from london, and claimed he forgot it in his trousers.. it was in the papers this morning
Dubai’s more strict, nothing we can do about it, but visit that country, unblazed. Do you live in Dubai? If it’s yes, I’m sorry for you. If it’s no, and you spark one up every now and then, I suggest you either visit completely clean, or don’t go. If you do decided to take that leap outside your box, and actually remember your holiday there, it may make for a peaceful, and way less shady trip.
Just making a post because of SANAI´s post: Muslims are idiots (…) people like those?!?! What country/year/planet/”wish i could burn some blacks” state do you live in?! I know some racist people ,but no one as ever said something so stupid as “muslims are idiots (…) those people cant be educated”…Do you even know what a muslim is?!I can assure you it isnt “a people”! Do u say that christians are idiots because of the holocaust?! do u believe christians are idiots because of all the dumb laws and procedures that exist in the christian, (or as some prefer) civilized world? Jesus…im atheist and i wouldnt generalize half as much as you… IDIOT!!!!
[...] img.floatRight { float: right; padding-left: 10px; } Man Thrown In Jail In Dubai, For Having 0.003 Grams Of Cannabis Stuck To His Shoe [...]
and thus we see both sides of the coin: Dubai is tragically beautiful and devastatingly different. let’s continue to light up in the states!!!
Tragic thing #1 in many of the above posts: the blatant intolerance of & lack of respect for others and their way of life / religion.
Tragic thing #2: how so many people generalise from a few dumb comments on either side to include the whole religion / race / country.
Funny thing: Most of the intolerant / stupid comments have illiteracy written all over them ….. hmmm is there a connection ………….!
Funniest thing: Seems many people (especially the ones referred to in the paragraphs above) believe what they read on the net / blogs / press ……….. Duuuh!
Guys I was in Dubai central prison. The place is full with innocent people who had to plaid guilty because of the fucking legal system. The citizens of this country are uneducated, muslims, primitives, greedy and racists. They don’t care about anything and the word HUMANITY is not in their vocabulary. Almost 5000 people were being kept in the prison many of them innocents and most of them foreigners. We have to do something about it.
Bomb Dubai? Are you rednecks retarded? Dubai could BUY the USA right now. Do you effing realize that? Probably not. For a country that is trillions upon trillions of dollars in debt, and with a dollar that is lower then the Canadian dollar, the USA is just not a power house anymore. Just a joke.
They make their own islands for fucks sakes. The US can’t even stop a flood from crushing New Orleans without worrying about the economic strangle hold that it’s in.
Religion is the oldest excuse to bash someone else. There have been more deaths due to religion than any other cause.
We shoul ban religion too.
Fascist of Fascists
“I’d give him 10 years. Americans need to learn to respect other countries’ laws and religion. Good for UAE that it’s not making any compromises.â€
The guy’s a Brit.
Read the fucking article. Faggot.”
whoever said this is obviously very unintelligent there would be no point in trying to smuggle anything less than several grams .003 grams is physically impossible to smoke or even be aware its on your person. Walking outside in a random location, there is a decent chance that if you used this “high tech” equipment you would find something on that level. In my opinion i don’t even see the possession of cannabis as that of a bad thing
and even in the U.S. you wouldn’t go to jail unless you had a decent amount, usually (with intention to distribute)
Every word of this story may be true - however have you noticed that there is always a black person unvolved when these stories are investigated? aka..there’s a Nigga in da woodpile….
I feel terrible for people that live in places like this. There is no other reason for these laws and rules to exist other than to make people’s lives hell, and to control people through bullying and fear. This type of treatment is completely void of all logic, and those sick narcissistic individuals who make these laws have no souls, and could even be, considered ‘evil’, and are a threat to humanity as a whole… A personal message to such law makers/enforcers: If were in charge I’d have you drawn and quartered in the town square for your blatant abuse of your fellow man.
To: Sir David Von Mudkip;
Faggot?
You are an imbecile.
Dubai; You just lost my tourist dollars.
What a shitty thing.
@trent
Are you serious, do you truly believe that the UAE could buy the US? When you came up with this ridiculous claim did you account for even a single federal asset or did you base it purely on the national deficit? Our national infrastructure alone has to be worth a couple of trillion dollars if not more. In terms of New Orleans, you’re comparing apples to oranges here. There’s a huge different between saving a landmass that’s predominantly below sea level, is in a large hurricane zone and already has an established population as opposed to creating an island from scratch. It’s not easy to create an island but it’s a hell of a lot harder to save an estblished populated region from sinking. Read the history of Holland. They’ve been dealing with this issue for hundreds of years now. Please read up a bit more before making such sensational claims. Or produce references.
I know of a brit who was arrested in Dubai for 2 grams of cocain last year. He was sentenced to 25 years on tuesday in Dubai
It’s a real shame that Dubai and the U.A.E. are not as critical of their own sins and transgressions (towards their Jewish neighbors and Christians for instance) as they are towards unsuspecting tourists and visitors. I just question their definition of being holy.
PS — My wealthy friend has been to Dubai this year. He hated it. He said outside of the coast and small new business and hotel district the rest of the city is run down and squalor.
I have lived in that country. Its beautiful.
While I would never go back there due to the fact that islam is pretty scary to live around and the people tend to be racist against christians, I respect their desire to make it one of the most civilized countries in the world. And it truly is such. Low crime. Low rape. Low pedophilia. I wish us western men would get tough against drugs instead of slapping its use on the wrist. It is the reason our crime is so high. When was the last time you truly felt safe in NYC? Or did you watch every black guy you passed? Why did you? Because america is too permissive of drugs, the cause of white crime, black crime and most crime.
First of all, I don’t know where this misconception came from, but all views do not need to be respected, abided by or agreed with in any way. All views deserve to be observed and genuinely considered. That is all. If after genuine consideration, one comes to the conclusion that a view is ridiculous, one is under no obligation to respect that view. You have the right to your opinion; I have the right to attack your opinion just as you have the right to attack mine. That is the essence of free speech.
Now that that’s out of the way, my opinion is that the actions of Dubai law enforcement are ridiculous and, in fact, laughable. At best, these measures are unnecessarily strict. I feel they are unjustified and unfortunately for the sake of argument posters with contrary opinions have been too distracted by trivial issues of “respecting customs” to explain why such a law is justified. The only person who comes close is sam mills who justifies this type of law because he claims “[drugs are] the cause of white crime, black crime and most crime.” This would be a good case if drugs were in fact the cause of most crime. Drug use is, in fact, just another effect of the real cause of most crime. That cause is scarcity. The reason the vast majority of people commit crimes is because they do not have something which they either need or want. As is mentioned, drug use is (usually) an attempt to escape this lack for a short period of time. Someone who disagrees with this and maintains that drug use causes most crime will probably point to a specific example of crimes committed by drug addicts. drug use may cause such crimes, but because the drug use is caused by scarcity, scarcity remains the overarching cause and the drug use remains just one step in a sequence caused by scarcity. A proponent of drug-centric view on crime would have to account for this.
Even if we accept that drugs cause some crime and we are therefore justified in banning them, (a fundamentally hypocritical view if you believe in the right to bear arms but we’ll ignore that for now) no sane person would claim that .003 grams of cannabis stuck to someones shoe or a few poppy seeds from a muffin are going to cause crime. They might be indicative of larger amounts of drugs elsewhere, however. For this reason, I would consider findings like these to warrant a strip search, or in a very extreme case, deportation, but certainly not imprisonment.
This has nothing to do with the country being muslim. I live in a muslim country (im an atheist) where even though its illegal to carry or smoke marijuana, the police will never bust you for it (except in extreme cases). For those out there with no geographical knowledge, not all muslim countries consist deserts, i.e Turkey is surrounded by seas (black sea, sea of marmara, aegean sea, mediterranean sea) and is a quite green (no pun intended) country. I do not see the difference between christianity an islam. dubai is a very beautiful wealthy country with very strict (and to me stupid) laws. I do not accept people saying that muslim are racist(!) againts christians, which in most cases its vice versa. I dont think the laws affect dubaians, since they are not raised (some might say with the freedom) to experience drugs and are not exposed to drugs.
so, you now know the law, as your passport says (it does) check with local laws even if you are just transferring in that country.
(i do want to add, dubai is very very very very wealthy, that instead of taxing everything, annually gives students -all of them- money as they study there, and the US is in about $ 12,250,000,000,000 of external debt wherein uea (not dubai per se) is in debt of $ 41,510,000,000.. so that is a big difference. though saying that uea can buy usa is quite funny
I sure as hell ain’t going there.
truth be told anyone could step on that amount of cannabis pretty much anywhere.
I’m gonna go and sprinkle drugs on the shoes of all the people queeing up at the UAE airline counter next time I fly somewhere
>:-)
One hopes the Dubai peoples are subject to the same hi-tech searches and punishments upon entry/exit of our ports, and by the way, when we elect, isnt that because they have promised to protect their citizens somewhere along the line? Its all so confusing!
well happened to me, the morons put me in dubai jail for four days because my visa was not clear to read. the immigration messed it up, this place sucks, in jail lots of poor bastards were waiting, well, if you can afford it you can bail yourself out, thats a sick place, i lived for six years in dubai and I will never return to these sick ” nationals ” who think that are the better humans. Learn humanity first, get better labour law for all theese poor souls who are building your country, where were you without the labour force for asia, the managers from europe, STONEAGE !!, maybe pearl fisher and pirates
FUCK DUBAI! I’VE BEEN THERE! a lot of fucking racists and bigots! Don’t get amused with its sparkle! It’s all loads of shits!
Try to stay in Dubai in few months and you will notice social injustices! I promise, it’s very prevalent!
Dubai is a primitive shithole, literally filled with primitive shitholes. All I can say is I’m glad to see the turds who have remained in this hell instead of emigrating to a civilized country are wasting, burning their riches with disaster projects waiting to happen. The downside of this fetid ATM machine of a country has been well-documented on this blog. Good job. Let me add that if you try to pass through airport security with a copy of Playboy or Penthouse, you will also end up in a medieval Dubai jail. It is much easier to traffic a kidnapped woman from Eastern Europe into Dubai and sell her as a prostitute than it is to travel through the country carrying a magazine bearing a photo of a naked breast.
Just stay away from this hellhole.
iam a ilegal and i whant to gou in dubai what can hapan whed me?
Heres the US department of states warning:
”
“Legislation enacted in January 1996 imposes the death sentence for convicted drug traffickers. Since January 2006, possession of even trace amounts of illegal drugs has resulted in sentences of four years imprisonment for foreign citizens transiting the UAE. Some drugs normally taken under a doctor’s supervision in the United States, and even some over-the-counter U.S. drugs and medications, are classified as narcotics in the UAE and are illegal to possess. A doctor’s prescription should be carried along with any medication that is brought into the country. A person may be subject to arrest and prosecution if possession of prescribed medicines (especially those containing codeine and similar narcotic-like ingredients) comes to the attention of local authorities. The U.S. Embassy’s web site includes an unofficial list of such medicines, obtained from the UAE Ministry of Health. Most medications available in the U.S. are also available by doctors’ prescription through hospitals and pharmacies in the UAE.
In addition, the UAE’s tough anti-narcotics program also includes poppy seeds, widely used in other cultures, including the U.S., for culinary purposes, on its list of controlled substances. The importation and possession of poppy seeds in any and all forms is strictly prohibited. Persons found to possess even very small quantities of controlled substances listed by the UAE are subject to prosecution by the authorities and may be given lengthy prison terms of up to 15 years. Travelers with questions regarding the items on the list of controlled substances should contact the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai. If suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, individuals may be required to submit to blood and/or urine tests and may be subject to prosecution.”
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1050.html
I’d like to grab the wallet of one of those UAE police sandnegroids, pull out their bills and scan for cocaine which all currency has traces of and start blabbering “Allah! Allah! Bad man with cocaine! Bad man with cocaine! Kill him now! Kill him now!”
Ha ha I betcha the guy’d freak, go home and commit suicide- and I’d laugh joyously forever. Dubai- the Vegas for Muslim losers!
hey vitali get an education you freakin’ moroon.
Dubai is a shitty place.