Drug user should not have been spared jail, Supreme Court rules

ABU DHABI // Sharjah Appeals Court should not have a sent drug user to rehab without a jail sentence as he did not turn himself in, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The mother of the defendant called anti-narcotics police in Sharjah and told them that her son seemed “not normal” and that he possessed a number of “drug capsules”.

After she summoned police to their house, officers found ‎66 capsules of Tramadol in the defendants cupboard. He was arrested and referred to the Sharjah Criminal Court, which sentenced him to a year in jail.

The Appeals Court however found him not guilty on the grounds that he was the one who turned himself in.

However, public prosecution further appealed the verdict at the Federal Supreme Court, in Abu Dhabi, arguing that the defendant did not turn himself in — it was in fact his mother who turned him in.

Therefore article 43 of the 1995 anti narcotics law did not apply to his case.

The article states: “there is no criminal lawsuit against a drug consumer who turns himself in for treatment and rehab or to public prosecution requesting treatment.”

Therefore, the Supreme Court accepted the claim and referred the case back to Appeals.