°®Âþµº

Record numbers of people are being caught vaping with CBD oil - or cannabis oil - in Dubai, with almost 100 people arrested with the substance in the first quarter of 2019, according to local police.

While only two people were arrested for vaping with CBD oil in the first quarter of last year, 97 were caught in 2019, a Dubai Police official told Gulf News on Monday.

Most of them were foreigners caught trying to bring the oil into the UAE inside vaping devices, apparently disguised as legal vaping liquids, by customs officials, Brigadier Eid Thani Hareb, director of Dubai Police's Anti-Narcotics Department said.

Cannibidiol oil or CBD oil is treated the same as cannabis in the UAE and is thus illegal, despite being legal in many other countries.

The minimum sentence for possession is two years, but those caught with large amounts of cannabis can be sent to jail for ten years or more.

Until recently, it was also illegal to sell vapes or e-cigarettes in the UAE.

Earlier this year, the UAE announced that shops would be allowed to sell vaping devices and e-cigarettes from April onwards, although it was not previously illegal to own an e-cigarette or similar device.

Nonetheless, Brigadier Hareb also warned against e-cigarettes with legal liquids.

The police official urged parents to keep their children away from vaping devices, warning that using them would cause addiction from a young age.