Sick Canadian man, 64, travelling with CBD medication sentenced to life in Dubai prison

Maurice Kevin O’Rourke, 64, was detained after airport authorities found cannabidiol products he used to manage symptoms of rare life-threatening disorder

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.

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.”