A British citizen is facing two years in a Dubai prison after testing positive for cannabis

A 24-year old British waiter who moved to Dubai intending to start a new life was, according to a media report, sentenced to two years in prison when traces of cannabis was, found in his system when is new employer carried out a drug test on him.

He is protesting his innocent and adamant that although he smoked cannabis in the UK, he has never smoked it in Dubai. However, after spending several weeks in prison, among 25 other inmates, that did not speak English, and he talks no Arabic, slept on the floor, he was, granted bail.

His passport has been, confiscated and he will have to attend an appeal hearing that has been set for later this month, in fact just before Christmas.

Sometimes we make decisions that impact negatively on our lives. There is nothing wrong with wanting to explore other countries, but before we do it is a good idea to know about the culture and the laws that govern that particular country.

It scares me to learn, from a media article that over 200 British Citizens were, detained in the UAE in 2017, and the charges are sometimes so ridiculous it defies logic. This latest detainee has stated that all he got from being in Dubai tantamount to a nightmare of which he has no idea if he’s going to emerge from intact.

In my opinion, UK citizen should consider seriously, if Dubai is a place they want to visit or reside. If they choose to do so, make sure they are aware of every aspect of the laws that govern and ones that should never be, broken so that they can give themselves a fighting chance of living, working and residing in that country.