Israel marijuana growers on a high as wall curbs Arab supplies
A few years back Israeli cannabis smokers grappled with the notion that their drug money often enriched the country's foes. These days, they're more likely to light up marijuana produced in Tel Aviv basements or villas outside Jerusalem than hashish smuggled in from abroad.
A few years back Israeli cannabis smokers grappled with the notion that their drug money often enriched the country's foes. These days, they're more likely to light up marijuana produced in Tel Aviv basements or villas outside Jerusalem than hashish smuggled in from abroad.
"Marijuana has quietly become the main product here," said Daniel Nahum, a former paratrooper who first noticed the change when he began smelling pot in bohemian neighborhoods of Jaffa, an ancient port city south of Tel Aviv.
The shift in Israel's cannabis supply is an unintended effect of tighter border security. While Israelis long smoked hash from neighbouring Arab countries, a new fence and more vigilance on the borders have thwarted shipments. In response, Israeli dealers are growing their own.
"While we are successfully foiling attempts to smuggle hash, we are also noticing a spike in seizures of home operations," said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.
The vision is … every Israeli will be able to go to a pharmacy and buy cannabis
A surge in African migrants entering the country from the Sinai desert spurred Israel to build a 230-kilometre fence along the border. The six-metre-high barrier, topped with barbed wire, was completed in January after two years of construction. Stronger patrols after the second Lebanon war in 2006 and the civil strife in Syria had already restricted supplies from the north.
"From a public interest standpoint, this is a positive development," said Boaz Wachtel, founder of Ale Yarok, or the Green Leaf Party, and a key figure in bringing medicinal cannabis to the country. "The stuff grown inside Israel is of higher quality. Some hash from Lebanon was just clay mixed with sap."
Even better, Wachtel says: Drug money is no longer going to places "that shoot missiles at us".
The changes come as the debate over marijuana intensifies in Israel. Finance Minister Yair Lapid, a journalist who became a politician, drew media scrutiny this year when he denied ever smoking pot. Israelis were sceptical that the former model and actor, dubbed by the daily the "prom king politician" had never inhaled.
Tales from people claiming to have shared a joint with Lapid didn't help his credibility.
Medical marijuana is tightly controlled in Israel, where scientists have led global advances in understanding the health benefits of the plant. About 9,000 patients suffering from diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis are using the drug. Three quarters of Israelis believe marijuana has legitimate medical uses, according to a survey commissioned by the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies.
The dwindling supply of cheaper hash from Arab countries is costing Israeli smokers. Black market marijuana has risen to about 100 shekels (HK$219) a gram from 70 shekels three years ago, said Wachtel. That's about four times what medium-quality pot costs in California.
Moshe Feiglin, a Knesset member from the Likud party, wants to make it easier for doctors to prescribe medical marijuana. He last year penned an op-ed in daily titled "God Owns Cannabis Patent".
"The vision is that from age 21 every Israeli citizen will be able to go to a pharmacy and buy cannabis under very strict regulation," Feiglin said. "This might be good for our economy and would help improve the quality of the medicine, but for me this is above all about liberty."
Meanwhile, Israeli growers are sprouting to feed the black market, estimated at US$700 million a year. A decade ago about 70 per cent of cannabis came through Egypt and Lebanon, Wachtel estimates. These days it's mainly local.
