CBD medication earns Canadian traveller life sentence from UAE court

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An Ontario man is facing a life sentence in a Dubai prison after being jailed while travelling through the country with medically prescribed CBD products he uses to treat a rare and life-threatening disease.

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Maurice Kevin O’Rourke, 64, has appealed his sentencing in a United Arab Emirates courtroom with a trial date set for Christmas Day.

According to Detained in Dubai, a U.K.-based human rights organization that assists individuals in such circumstances, the Mississauga-based carpenter was travelling through the Dubai International Airport on his way to meet with colleagues in South Africa on July 3 when he was “stopped, searched and detained.” Authorities uncovered 118 grams combined of CBD products consisting of “cannabis, CBD and CBD oil.”

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O’Rourke’s wife Pamela said he used the medication to help sleep and deal with the chronic pain associated with Addison’s disease, a rare condition where the adrenal glands don’t produce enough cortisol and sometimes aldosterone, leading to symptoms like fatigue, muscle weakness, weight loss and low blood pressure.

Left untreated, it can lead to an Addisonian crisis — a sudden drop in those hormones resulting in symptoms that include confusion, loss of consciousness and, in extreme cases, coma. 

Local doctors have had difficulty sourcing medication to treat O’Rourke properly, according to his wife, resulting in complications.

“He contracted an MRSA infection, had two emergency surgeries, spent 40 days in hospital and has subsequently been fighting an infection,” she told Detained in Dubai.

“He has an open wound in prison, in three months he went from being strong and healthy to being in a wheelchair. It’s been incredibly distressing and life-threatening for him.”

Images shared by Detained show a healthier, happier Kevin in contrast with recent photos of him looking frail and unwell in Dubai.

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Radha Stirling, the organization’s CEO and the crisis manager assisting O’Rourke’s family, warns that he will never receive the care he needs in the UAE prison system.

“(O’Rourke) will not survive in their care,” she stated. “He is too fragile and at risk of infection and life-threatening complications as a result of his disease.”

‘An innocent mistake’

Stirling and O’Rourke’s family insist he made an error in judgment taking the medication with him.

“Kevin accepts that he shouldn’t have travelled while on medication but he doesn’t deserve to spend the rest of his life in prison,” his wife said. ”It was an innocent mistake.”

The UAE Embassy lists “cannabis plant,” “cannabis resine” and “cannabis sativa (Indian hemp)” as controlled narcotic medications, but doesn’t specifically mention CBD, or cannabidiol, the phytocannabinoid found in cannabis plants.

Under the country’s laws, any controlled medication must be accompanied by a prescription for the amount being carried and the user must seek approval from the UAE Ministry of Health before arrival.

The website for the Dubai International Airport also advises passengers “to exercise additional caution” bringing medications into the country because some ingredients may be prohibited.

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“This might cause things to get worse and perhaps result in arrests,” it reads.

In her 15 years of experience assisting individuals prosecuted in the UAE, Stirling has dealt with similar cases. She said there is a lack of clarity on what medication is allowed to travel through the country and said airlines need to be more forthcoming with customers at all steps in the travel process, from booking to departure.

Regarding CBD specifically, some visitors have been denied entry or deported, others had their medication confiscated and were sent on their way.

“It can be very confusing and a lot of tourists make the mistake of believing, as (O’Rourke) did, that their prescription is valid or medication allowed everywhere,” she said.

Countries need to have some understanding and compassion for people who genuinely intended no wrong.

Stirling also asserted that O’Rourke’s “unfathomable” sentence, delivered on Oct. 31 along with a fine of $190,000 CAD, is because prosecutors who she alleges are “incentivized to prosecute drugs cases,” combined the weights of the individual substances in his possession. 

“Had they charged the amounts individually, he would not have been handed such a shocking sentence.”

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While O’Rourke sits in Al Awir prison awaiting his court appearance, his family and Stirling are making pleas to Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among others, to step in and secure the Canadian’s release.

Stirling is hopeful Ottawa can assist O’Rourke as it did André Gauthier, a Quebec geologist who spent six years fighting fraud charges in the UAE before eventually returning to Canada in 2021.

O’Rourke’s advocates are also hopeful the Dubai courts are reasonable.

“He is ill and in need of ongoing and constant medical care. From a human rights perspective, we hope the government of Dubai will understand and allow him to come home,” pleaded Stirling.

In response to questions about O’Rourke’s situation and what Canada is doing to secure his release and safe return, a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada told the National Post they “are aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen” and that “consular officials are in touch with local authorities and are providing consular assistance.”

They did not name the citizen as O’Rourke and said “due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”

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