Tourist has marijuana acquittal overturned and must now serve four years in Dubai

Brazilian told police she smokes the drug because she is thin and it increases her appetite.

DUBAI // A tourist has had her acquittal for smoking marijuana in her Jumeirah hotel room overturned at the Court of Appeal and will now serve four years in jail.

Brazilian C O had told the presiding judge at Dubai Criminal Court that she smoked the drug while in Mexico and claimed the marijuana found in her room was not hers.

Prosecutors charged the 23-year-old with possession and consumption of drugs on January 17. She did not enter a plea at the time because she does not speak English or Arabic.

When a Portuguese translator was brought to the court, C O told the judge that the drugs were not hers and that she did not bring them into the country.

“The drugs don’t belong to me — women were in my hotel room that day and maybe it was theirs,” she said.

Policeman R H told prosecutors that he found a plastic bag containing marijuana and a machine used to roll cigarettes, as well as cigarette papers and another machine used for cutting the drug in the hotel room.

“We asked her where she got them from and she told us that she brought them from Mexico,” said the officer.

He added that the Brazilian told him that she smokes marijuana because she is thin and the drug increases her appetite for food.