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The Back Page: Fight the Hard-Drug Dealers, Not the Pot Smokers
Matti Friedman
A bill that would dramatically reform Israel�s drug laws will be submitted by Knesset Member Roman Bronfman of Meretz when the legislature returns from recess on October 19. It would decriminalize possession of marijuana for personal use, replacing laws that now allow for a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of up to NIS 109,000 for possession of up to 15 grams of the drug. Bronfman hopes that this would free up resources that could be redirected to rooting out hard-drug use, with the focus on dealers, and to educate the public on the dangers of drug use.
The impetus for the legislation came in large part from the Aleh Yarok (Green Leaf) party, which ran in the last Knesset elections on a platform calling for the legalization of the drug. Aleh Yarok garnered 34,000 votes, around 1 percent of votes cast -- short of the 1.5 percent needed to enter the Knesset, but representing a significant constituency that could have given a larger party an additional Knesset seat. Bronfman�s parliamentary aide, Dan Goldenblatt, was the No. 2 man on Aleh Yarok�s Knesset list.
Bronfman says that a recent directive from the attorney general telling police not to open criminal files for first-time marijuana offenders is a move in the right direction. But his proposed legislation would go much farther. The bill has some support in the Knesset, but its sponsors anticipate an "uphill battle" to get it passed.
The Jerusalem Report: What is the thrust of this bill?
Roman Bronfman: The intifada will be over at some point, and we will then return to negotiations. But Israel is not ready for the day after the intifada, not from a social perspective, and part of this is the way we deal with drugs. Our idea is to revise the drug laws. The target of our new legislation is the distribution of resources, human and economic, both in the police and in the legal system, which are now concentrated on catching people using drugs. Every year the police open up around 20,000 criminal files for individual drug users. This diverts attention from two much more important areas: explaining to the public the effects and ramifications of drug use, and waging an uncompromising war against dealers and hard drugs.
The main point of the bill is to decriminalize the personal use of marijuana over age 18 or 21 -- the exact age has yet to be decided. We are consulting with psychologists and with the educational system on that subject. I prefer 21.
There has already been a move in the right direction: On August 18, the attorney general released a directive to the police instructing them not to open files for first-time offenders. We have asked him to erase the criminal records of first-time offenders over the past decade -- we estimate that this means close to 100,000 people with criminal files for one-time marijauna use.
Do the police support the bill?
I have yet to consult with them. It is still too early for that.
What exactly does the bill call for: officially supervised mari-juana sales, at licensed points, or the free sale of the drug, like alcohol?
I�m proposing two stages. In the first, sale of the drug will be open, like alcohol. In the second, when there is a significant drop in the stigma associated with it, it will be possible to move to the second stage, which is government-supervised points of sale.
Some claim that marijuana is a "gateway" drug that leads to the use of other, harder drugs. Do you disagree?
I�m familiar with this claim. Look, there is no one in the world who can tell you for certain that this is not true. But on the other hand, the statistics say that 10 percent of 16-year-olds smoke marijuana, and the true number is probably double that. If every fifth 16-year-old is using marijuana, we have to allocate our resources toward explaining the ramifications. We will explain: If you want to smoke, wait until you�re 18, or 21, because the drug does the most damage to the nervous system during puberty, from age 12-13 to 17-18. Right now no one is saying this. They are saying, You can�t touch it, you can�t know about it.
This is an important point: We are not pro-drugs. We are against drugs. We are in favor of real, sophisticated, honest education on the subject.
If you find one of your children smoking marijuana, at the right age and in an entirely legal fashion, what will you say to them?
I will say that if he so dearly wants to smoke, he must wait until he is 18, or 21, until his neuro-biological system is stronger and more capable of withstanding damage. And I�ll repeat again and again that damage is still possible.
I don�t want you to think that we�re sticking our heads in the sand and claiming that there is no damage caused by smoking marijuana. But if you prosecute people for small offenses, you miss the most important things, which are educating young people and fighting the dealers. In America in the 20s, the law prohibited alcohol. Did that stop people from drinking?
September 22, 2003
Middle East
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