Sentence overturned for woman prescribed medicinal marijuana

The 25-year-old British woman was previously sentenced to four years in prison by the Dubai Criminal Court for consuming hashish. The Appeals Court overturned the decision after medical evidence proved she was prescribed the drug to treat bipolar disorder.

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.