WHY IS ISRAEL GOING TO POT?
A bill going through Israel’s Knesset, sponsored by two MKs, would decriminalise the personal use of cannabis.
A report last month on Israeli TV said that under these changes, cannabis use would be permitted for those aged 21 and over, not including workers in security-related jobs; designated shops would sell the drug; driving under its influence would be forbidden; it would be regulated similarly to cigarettes; and there would be an educational fund to explain its dangers.
This is all shockingly wrong-headed, ignorant and deeply irresponsible. Yet it is but the latest stage in a process that has been going on in Israel for years.
Israel now leads the world in the production of cannabis for medical purposes. The Israeli Health Ministry website boasts: “The regularisation of the medical cannabis field in Israel is the first of its kind in the world. It is a complex, unique, innovative and original process.”
There is evidence indicating that some components of cannabis may indeed help patients suffering from certain medical conditions. But these medical advantages are still far from clear.
And acceptance of “medipot” has long been used as a Trojan horse for legalising or decriminalising the drug altogether by blurring its ill effects in the public mind. This is precisely what’s been happening in Israel.
In 2017, the Public Security Ministry loosened criminal procedures for first-time cannabis users. Further liberalization has been promoted by Israel’s public security minister, Amir Ohana, who has decried the “heavy-handed” enforcement of cannabis laws. Melanie Phillips.
