Pubdate: Sun, 08 Feb 2015
Source: National, The (UAE)
Copyright: 2015 Abu Dhabi Media Company
Contact:  http://www.thenational.ae/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4896
Author: Salam Al Amir

SENTENCE OVERTURNED FOR WOMAN PRESCRIBED MEDICINAL MARIJUANA IN DUBAI APPEAL

DUBAI - A four-year jail sentence given to a 25-year-old British woman
for consuming hashish was overturned on Sunday.

The woman's lawyer, Saeed Al Ghilani, told the Dubai Court of Appeal
that his client was prescribed medicinal marijuana because she has
bipolar disorder.

"She had been referred by the criminal court to the Rashid Hospital.
This hospital is not specialised in evaluating one's mental health. In
less than half an hour, they concluded that she was fine and suffers
from nothing," said Mr Al Ghilani.

"A long history of illness was cut short in just half an hour, during
which my client was not even examined, she was just asked a few
questions by the hospital's doctor."

According to court documents, the defendant, S S, was reported
to police for being known to consume the drug.

On February 23 last year, officers arrested her at her Palm Jumeirah
apartment. No drugs were found, but urine tests were positive for the
drug and she was referred to prosecutors.

"My daughter had been suffering from multiple and complicated
disorders, and the medical committee here met her for only 20
minutes," said her father.

"They summed up a 10-year-long history of illness in 20 minutes - that
can't be possible. I would request the court to assign a specialist to
look into my daughter's condition.

"She had been prescribed medicinal cannabis by a doctor in London to
take her off the chemical medications that she had been taking for
years," he said.

Mr Al Ghilani told the court his client was prescribed medicinal
marijuana after the drugs she was previously taking caused
complications.

The lawyer provided the court with medical reports that proved the
defendant's long medical history.

Dubai Court of Appeal found S S not guilty and overturned her
four-year sentence and deportation order.
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