The Greenest Army in the World by Ziv Genesove

For decades, the Israel Defense Forces have reacted impatiently to soldiers suspected of using cannabis – with jailing punishments on daily basis – but now it seems that new regulations offer a real revolution in the army’s perception of the issue. So, will Israeli soldiers soon be able to reach the base with a few buds in their bags without fear of criminal prosecution?

The Israeli army is considered to be no less than sacred for many in Israeli society, which views the army as one of the factors that shape and unite the country’s population, in addition to the important security role that such a body has in a country surrounded by hostile elements.

This is precisely the reason why many legalization activists in Israel try to avoid entering the sensitive issue of cannabis consumption among IDF soldiers, which may lead to quite a few negative reactions by conservative population groups in the country.

Despite all this, it appears that the change in approach stems from elements in the Israeli military establishment itself, who have recently announced a further revision of the army’s policy that makes it significantly easier for soldiers who are accused of consumption or even just possession of cannabis during the military service.

Zero tolerance for drug offenses

Until recently, the army applied a strict policy of zero tolerance for soldiers suspected of consuming or holding cannabis. The military police invested endless resources in uncovering and incriminating rogue soldiers – including raids on bases and searches of personal belongings, conducting urine tests unexpectedly, and even recruiting undercover policemen who function like regular soldiers in the unit.

A soldier who was found to be in possession of cannabis, or produced a urine test which tested positive, was expelled from the unit immediately. Furthermore, most of the time he found himself spending several weeks or months in a military prison.

This policy caused great frustration among many soldiers who felt that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the homeland and the state in turn ruins their future civilian lives due to a relatively minor offense.

“Strict policy is not effective“

The first signs of a change of direction in the IDF system came at the end of last year, when the army announced that IDF soldiers that cannabis residues have been found in their body (meaning that they had consumed cannabis during vacation and were not found in the base area) would no longer be immediately charged with a criminal offense – instead they will be allowed to enter a “probationary period” at the end of which the case will be closed without conviction if the soldier has not committed further offenses.

A statement from the Military Advocate General’s Office explained that “a soldier who has been found guilty of smoking cannabis outside the army on a few occasions will be indicted, but if he undertakes to give clean urine samples and successfully ends a certain test period (or his military service) with no further offenses, he will not be prosecuted.” Although the statement stressed that the above-mentioned provisions only refer to cannabis, while the army’s policy on the use of hard drugs remains as is, the publication has led to many negative reactions among conservative groups in Israel who expressed concern that the move sends an improper message of easing the issue of drug consumption during military service.

But the Military Advocate General’s Office was not deterred by the criticism and said in response that “after decades of strict policy, we can now say for sure that it hasn’t been effective in preventing the use of drugs in the army. We came to a conclusion that it is better to invest efforts in rehabilitation than to send the soldiers to spend a month in the military prison. We hope this act will reduce the drop-out rate from the army, since the imprisonment of soldiers usually leads to the end of their military service. ”

“A giant step to improve the situation“

Recently, the army issued another directive that makes it even easier for IDF soldiers, and technically enables them to reach the base with a small amount of cannabis without fear of criminal consequences

According to the new directive: “Holding a dangerous drug of the cannabis type in an amount not exceeding one gram only will not justify the filing of an indictment to a military court, in such a situation and considering that this is merely a small drug residue, the attorney will be satisfied with ordering the closure of the investigation file and the suspect’s warning in the framework of his opinion. ”

At the same time, there are a number of exceptions to this leniency in the IDF’s incrimination procedures. For example, an indictment will be filed if:

1. The cannabis is ready for use (“a drug rolled in a joint”)
2. The solider has a past in drug offenses
3. Other drug offenses are attributed to the soldier, including a refusal to give a urine sample.
4. The drug was found in the unit and there is evidence that its possession is intended for use

“This change is a huge step to improve the situation, but there is still a lot of work,” says Adam (fictitious name) a former soldier in an Israeli fighting unit who says he used cannabis during vacations in his military service. “The very fact that they will still invest resources in searching soldiers’ belongings and make them take urine tests is frustrating, but I guess there are changes that need to come very slowly, step by step.”

Adam recalls the time when he served in the army and how the entire base went into a state of alert in the event that the military police interrogators would come to visit: “It was simply an absurd situation – because you have representatives of the military police who come to the base to catch rogue soldiers, but on the other hand you have the commanders who know very well that some of their outstanding soldiers are ‘dirty’ and they do not want to lose them.”

According to Adam, some of the commanders cooperated with soldiers who consumed cannabis so that they would not be caught: “Whenever they informed us that the military police were on the way, the company commander would pass the information on to the department commanders. They would go around the base checking for soldiers who could not give a clean urine sample – and then send them to do made-up missions away from the base, such as a patrol or guard position at an isolated post so there would be no chance of finding him in the next few hours. ”

It seems difficult to know how the Israeli army’s drug policy will look in the distant future, but at least for the moment it appears that even in this old body, they are willing to make important changes that correspond to reality.

Originally published in Weed World Magazine Issue 134