Dubai.... What not to do?

Connollacken

Hello all,

On the 1st of October I set sail for Dubai, the land of oil and gold and 0% tolerance...
Up until today I've been completely ignorant and stupidly innocent about what level of activity can result in jail time. After doing a small bit of research, I found that sweet **** all can warrant a few years rest at the state penitentiary. Things like; one man was found with a 0.003gs trace of cannabis on his shoe and was apparently sentenced to 4 years in jail. I do smoke the odd time, but this kind of judicial threat coerces a sense of complete and utter paranoia.

The rules and regulations that I had read were in fact written by a Muslim, but I'm not sure if this changes anything. Only that it was badly translated. I just wanted to know if anybody out there has ever gone to Dubai and experienced the strict hand of justice themselves, or can in fact slightly discredit some of the stories... Which would be great.

Any other heads up would also be great.

Thanks

Connollacken

I'd like to link the page that I was looking at, but I do not yet have the authority.

smurfjed

Dubai is the worlds capital of hypocrisy, you can do anything you like, but just don't get caught and remember to treat even the taxi drivers with respect.

coylemj

Well the OP was due to 'set sail' on Oct 1st and we haven't heard a dickie bird since so presumably he's now doing 10 years hard labour for looking the wrong way at the guy on the passport desk.

His post is a salutary reminder that if you start off with a prejudice and look hard enough on the internet, you're bound to find stuff to reinforce your view.