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Zero tolerance to JWH drug

Chief Prosecutor of the Dubai Drug Prosecution Walid Faqai on Wednesday warned the public against carrying, peddling or using JWH, a synthetic drug that can cause hallucination, confusion, imagining of things and bouts of panic and is commonly known as Spice, stressing it was a crime that would be dealt with no tolerance.

Addressing a Press meeting attended by his assistant prosecutors, Faqai said the Dubai Drug Prosecution is the first in the country to refer an Asian man to the Court of First Instance on the crime of possessing and using JWH.

The UAE is the first Arab country to enlist this substance in the Anti-Narcotics Law, which means that whoever possesses or uses the substance can be penalised.

“The Anti- Narcotics Law was modified in May this year to include JWH and it was published in the official gazette in May end when it came into effect,” he said.

The first criminal case of JWH possession was registered in June when a man was caught by customs officers with a package containing a suspicious herbal substance. The suspect admitted he had bought it on the Internet and he thought its possession was not against the law then.

Ten similar cases were recently referred to the Drug Prosecution involving Arabs and Europeans.

No medical purposes

The substance cannot be used for any medical purposes, Al Faqai pointed out.

“Even though it was originally manufactured in the early 1980s by a German chemist John W. Huffman for pharmaceutical research, its formula was leaked later and laboratories have ever since misused it for profits and business.” It was included in List 1 of the Anti-Narcotics Law for two main reasons:

1) The risk it has on the central neurotic system. Its use could be more dangerous than the use of the natural cannabis and could be as much harmful as drugs like opium, heroin and hashish. It is very dangerous.

2) It is chemically manufactured and cannot have any medical purpose at all. People used it because they knew they would not be punished as per the law for its use or possession as it was not listed in the law. They could easily order and purchase it on the Net.

It affects the neurotic system more than hashish. Sometimes, people would go for it instead of hashish.

JWH is a chemically manufactured substance with effects that include hallucination, bouts of laughing and confusion, imagining things and bouts of panic and contractions. Absence of clear perception and self-control can also result from using JWH.

Two deaths due to JWH

The first death was of a Gulf man whose car crashed while he was driving under the influence of JWH. His use of the substance was proven in his urine sample test.

The second death was of a Russian national who jumped off a highrise building following after taking the substance.

There are around 300 to 400 types of this substance with about 30 types of JWH in the Gulf and Arab countries. It has been popular among people aged between 19 and 35 in the last two years.

mary@khaleejtimes.com