An American cruise ship passenger was fined $3,000 after he admitted two drug importation charges.

Frederick Hall Jr, 50, pleaded guilty to the importation of cannabis and THC, a psychoactive component of cannabis.

Magistrates’ Court heard that customs officers were called to the Anthem of the Seas after crew members suspected drug use.

Officers searched Hall’s cabin and found cigarettes, rolling papers, an e-cigarette containing a coloured oil and plastic bags filled with a plantlike material.

Hall was questioned by customs officers and he admitted that the drugs were his.

He told them: “I use them to get high.”

Customs alerted police and Hall was taken to Hamilton Police Station and charged.

The court heard that the plastic bags contained a total of 19.62 grams of cannabis.

The e-cigarette found in Hall’s cabin contained less than one millilitre of THC.

Hall, from Connecticut, apologised to the court and explained that he took the drugs for anxiety.

He said: “I took them to fall asleep. We were staying in a small cabin and I get claustrophobic. There was no way I could sleep in there.”

Jason Outerbridge, for the defence, told the court that cannabis was legal in Hall’s home state and added that his client was unaware of the island’s laws on cannabis.

But the Crown said that cruise ships gave visitors a spoken and written warning about Bermuda’s strict drugs laws.

Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe fined Hall $2,500 on the cannabis charge and $500 for the THC importation.

• Editor’s note: cannabis in the US state of Connecticut is illegal for recreational use, as is the case in Bermuda, but possession of up to 14 grams is decriminalised. Medical usage is permitted.

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