Legal cases of dokha mix possession on the rise

Lawyers said "creative dokha mixes" have become very popular in recent years.

Tobacco for sale in Abu Dhabi. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI // The number of teenagers and adults being charged over possessing “dokha mixes” is rising, lawyers say.

Users were coming up with more creative and life-threatening mixes of tobacco and drugs, they said.

Adding drugs to dokha was a way for users to be covert, said Mohammed Al Zaabi, a lawyer who has dealt with such cases.

“It is only one of the ways in which drug users and traders are hiding from the authorities,” he said. “Smokers find it easy to mix in additives to the dokha since it can be easily hidden.”

Such mixes are mainly popular with young men, and it is believed that drugs such as marijuana and crushed Tramadol are used.

“Dokha mixes are popular, especially among the youths because they are the targeted group. They have no life experience and are easy to coax,” said Mr Al Zaabi.

Lawyer Hadeya Hammad has been dealing with similar cases in court. Tobacco traders were the ones who produced the illicit mixes and sold them, she said.

“We see such cases daily among juveniles and adults, both men and women. The additives are created by drug promoters in secret. A popular drug is called Spice and is sold in the same bottles as dokha,” she said.

Some users also crushed and burnt pills or powders that they then smoked, said Ms Hammad.

“Once you are used to puffing on it you expect a bigger, longer-lasting high. That is why many enjoy the creative mixes found in the market, or create their own. They need that sort of high,” she said.

“But the consequences are drastic. In certain cases the two or three substances mixed cannot be combined and cause dangerous side effects in the body.

“Sometimes the users will buy the tobacco themselves and experiment with the mix, or take substances orally after smoking hashish or drinking alcohol.”

Sometimes the body could not handle the volume of drugs, resulting in death, she said.

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Tobacco shop owners dismissed rumours that marijuana-infused dokha tobacco was available for sale, saying that strict regulatory oversight made that impossible. When rumours started to circulate in local media this month, Dubai Police conducted tests on the dokha tobacco used in medwakh pipesonly to find no traces of marijuana. Despite strict regulation, the number of teenagers and adults being charged over possessing “dokha mixes” is rising, lawyers say.

Read more:

■ UAE smoke shop owners insist their dokha is pure

■ Former Emirati drug user warns against dokha