*A Las Vegas man is facing years in prison in Dubai after traces of cannabis were found in his urine.
Peter Clark, 51, reportedly flew to Dubai on Feb. 24 on a business trip and at some point, he suffered a pancreatitis attack. Medical staff reported him to authorities when doctors found traces of hashish in his urine. The drug is illegal in the United Arab Emirates, per Complex, and Clark was considered to be in possession of the narcotic when he tested posted for it at the hospital.
Cannabis is legal in Nevada where Clark consumed it, but he was still arrested in Dubai on March 3 and kept in a “flea-ridden cell.” He is now waiting in his hotel for further judgment on his case.
“Lost a ton of weight, no shower, no food, nothing to drink since I got here, no sleep,” he said in a video after his release from jail. Clark also makes clear that he did not bring drugs to Dubai, nor purchase or consume cannabis during his trip.
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Radha Stirling, the founder of Detained in Dubai, is representing Clark, and said he could face years in prison, Yahoo reports.
“The UAE’s arbitrary enforcement of laws and lack of predictable legal outcomes means that Peter potentially faces years in prison for legally smoking marijuana. Even if found innocent, he can be dragged through a slow and costly legal process,” she wrote.
Stirling is urging the US to warn travelers of UAW’s drug laws.
“We’ve seen foreigners arrested for drugs taken outside of the UAE, specs of almost undetectable marijuana ‘dust’ at the bottom of belongings, a poppyseed from a bread roll consumed at the airport, pharmaceutical and prescription medicine, and even a glass of wine served onboard Emirates airlines,” she said. “Arresting someone for smoking marijuana in their own country, weeks before they even entered the UAE, is unfairly persecuting tourists who have behaved well within Dubai itself. The US State Department needs to revise travel warnings to Americans who could end up arbitrarily detained.”
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