Tourist’s drug sentence reduced to three days
An American tourist who claimed she brought cannabis into the Island for medical purposes has had her jail sentence cut.Edith Lord Wolff was sentenced to a month in prison after she admitted importing 35.6 grams of cannabis.The 59-year-old from California was caught with the drugs inside her luggage at LF Wade International Airport on May 17, having arrived from New York.At her initial appearance in Magistrates’ Court, lawyer Mark Daniels said Wolff held a prescription for the drug to alleviate her symptoms of Meniere’s Disease, which can cause intense dizziness and nausea.She was fined $3,000 and given 30 days’ imprisonment by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.She appealed the sentence and had it reduced to three days, or time served, by Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons.Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told Supreme Court: “Whilst we do not accept that 30 days is wrong in law, bearing in mind that this appellant has already been bailed, we are not opposing the appeal.”Wolff’s fine was not returned but she was given her travel documents and allowed to go home.She later told The Royal Gazette she was unsure if she would be able to return to Bermuda: “I love the people, and I’ve got some really good friends here.”Wolff said she had found prison a cold experience: “Jail was tough.“At least at the Co-Ed [Facility] I could see the sky.”