Israeli gov't to reformers: Just shut up

The Green Leaf political party in Israel is upset that they've been banned from a high school's mock elections.

Green Leaf's platform, which was unveiled Monday at a news conference in Tel Aviv, calls for the legalization of soft drugs, whose use would not entail punishment unless carried out in the presence of minors. It also calls for criminal cases to be closed for those convicted of using soft drugs.

The party's platform advocates allowing people to grow a certain number of cannabis plants for personal use, or buying it in special shops located in industrial areas, which would operate only in the evening hours.

"Green Leaf is not advocating free drug use. We're in favor of legalizing cannabis, like cigarettes and alcohol, with age and sales restrictions," Wachtel said.

Yeah, good thing this dangerous message is being kept out of high schools. It's a mitzvah those Israeli school officials are so resolute in making sure that young people don't hear an alternate perspective on the Drug War...

And check this out:

In the comments section under the article, someone with an Israeli government e-mail address posted the following rant, with the title "Drugs are a Modern Plague in Israel."

With respect to those who wish to legalize marijuana, research has shown that use of light drugs does lead to use of hard drugs. All drugs are addictive and can pose life threatening conditions whether by the physical reaction in one`s own body, impaired activities (like driving under the influence) which can hurt or kill others, or by doing things high that one would never do sober and putting one`s one life at risk as well as that of others.

To the writer from the US who is more concerned about our young people in Israel eating calamari and pork, let me point out that eating treif is rarely life threatening in and of itself, unless you were to choke or eat food that is neither handled or cooked properly.

I will also note that eating treif does not harm others. Observance of mitzvot is a personal thing, as is tshuva. One can much more easily give up eating bacon and lobster than an addiction. Please join us in the war on drugs.

Actually, the "gateway" theory has been disproved by reputable research. Let me also point out that drugs themselves, like treif, are neither inherently safe nor dangerous. Just as some people choke on trief or make bad decisions with drugs, many people eat trief without choking or use drugs without any serious negative repercussions.

It's a sad situation when government anti-drug officials spew falsehoods to prop up their disastrous policies. It's even more disturbing when alternative perspectives are stifled in the important debate about drug use and abuse and drug policies.

Sound familiar, Americans?

The Green Leaf party has the right idea, though:

"We'll teach Blich's principal a lesson in civics," said Green Leaf chairman Boaz Wachtel.

Apparently, the British Columbia Marijuana Party in Canada ran into that same political discrimination problem during the last provincial election.