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."