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Thousands of people gathered at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv yesterday to take part in the International Marijuana Day picnic and call for the legalization of marijuana.
"This is a day of protest, to show how peaceful, unaggressive and law-abiding the people who support legalization are," said Lior Lubelski, one of the organizers.
The event was far from being a potheads' convention, but rather resembled a picnic of Tel Avivians enjoying a sunny day on the grass. Instead of joints, reefers and bongs, there was sunshine, dub and reggae music and a few speeches.
MK Roman Bronfman ( Yahad ), one of the speakers at the event, spoke out against the police's drug policy, which he said did more harm than good.
He called to "decriminalize" marijuana use. "The present situation is absurd," he said. "About a million people smoke grass, and according to the law they're all criminals."
He urged the police to stop persecuting soft drug users and focus on drug trafficking, which has a turnover of billions of dollars a year. He suggested adopting the drug policy of certain progressive states, which consists of providing reliable information about drug hazards and distinguishing between hard and soft drugs.
The organizers, who belong to the Coalition of Drug Reform Organizers in Israel, blasted the police for harassing people who smoke marijuana but do not trade in it. They said police start procedures against some 13,000 of them annually.
International Marijuana Day was first celebrated in 1969 in New York, with a protest march against the prohibition on using cannabis. Tel Aviv marked the event for the eighth consecutive year yesterday. A simultaneous picnic was held in Jerusalem's Sacher Park.
Last year the police raided the park a few hours after the picnic began.
"All the undercover cops that were here last year are here again today," Lubelski said, looking around.
This time organizers asked the participants to refrain from bringing substances categorized as illegal. Anyone observed holding prohibited material was asked politely not to use it until returning home.
Source: Ha'aretz (Israel)
Copyright: 2005 Ha'aretz Daily Newspaper Ltd.
Contact: letters@haaretz.co.il
Website: Haaretz | Israel News, the Middle East and the Jewish World - Haaretz.com
"This is a day of protest, to show how peaceful, unaggressive and law-abiding the people who support legalization are," said Lior Lubelski, one of the organizers.
The event was far from being a potheads' convention, but rather resembled a picnic of Tel Avivians enjoying a sunny day on the grass. Instead of joints, reefers and bongs, there was sunshine, dub and reggae music and a few speeches.
MK Roman Bronfman ( Yahad ), one of the speakers at the event, spoke out against the police's drug policy, which he said did more harm than good.
He called to "decriminalize" marijuana use. "The present situation is absurd," he said. "About a million people smoke grass, and according to the law they're all criminals."
He urged the police to stop persecuting soft drug users and focus on drug trafficking, which has a turnover of billions of dollars a year. He suggested adopting the drug policy of certain progressive states, which consists of providing reliable information about drug hazards and distinguishing between hard and soft drugs.
The organizers, who belong to the Coalition of Drug Reform Organizers in Israel, blasted the police for harassing people who smoke marijuana but do not trade in it. They said police start procedures against some 13,000 of them annually.
International Marijuana Day was first celebrated in 1969 in New York, with a protest march against the prohibition on using cannabis. Tel Aviv marked the event for the eighth consecutive year yesterday. A simultaneous picnic was held in Jerusalem's Sacher Park.
Last year the police raided the park a few hours after the picnic began.
"All the undercover cops that were here last year are here again today," Lubelski said, looking around.
This time organizers asked the participants to refrain from bringing substances categorized as illegal. Anyone observed holding prohibited material was asked politely not to use it until returning home.
Source: Ha'aretz (Israel)
Copyright: 2005 Ha'aretz Daily Newspaper Ltd.
Contact: letters@haaretz.co.il
Website: Haaretz | Israel News, the Middle East and the Jewish World - Haaretz.com
