2,000 march in Tel Aviv in support of pot legalization
MK Zandberg submits bill proposal to stop prosecution of people who smoke, possess marijuana in small doses.
Some 2,000 people attended a support rally Thursday evening at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv calling for the legalization of cannabis.
The rally was organized ahead of a discussion at the Knesset next week on a bill proposal by MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) to put an end for difficulties faced by patients who use medical cannabis.
The Knesset will hold a discussion on another bill proposal by MK Tamar Zandberg, to stop prosecution of marijuana smokers, in a few weeks.
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Demonstrators marched from Habima Square to Rabin Square calling "the people demand medical cannabis."
Some were carrying massive signs with images of joints, while others dressed up as cannabis leaves.
"It's time to stop this absurd policy of persecution of cannabis users," Zandberg said. "Slowly but surely the truth comes out, and that is that cannabis is neither harmful nor addictive, at least no more than other substances that are completely legal."
"Using cannabis is a part of a non-criminal, normative lifestyle, and a part of regular behavior by working, functioning adults," she added.
Zandberg called to change the law. "I expect my friends at the Knesset to look reality in the eye and support my bill proposal that will determine that using and possessing a small amount of cannabis does not constitute as a criminal offense."
"It's time to change this anachronistic law that costs us NIS 700 million a year, and stop prosecuting grass smokers," she added.
"Arguments made by those who oppose us are becoming more and more bizarre."
Feiglin said, "at some point in the negotiations with the health system, I realized the reason patients using medical cannabis encounter difficulties is not germane. There are different interest and pressure groups obstructing the issue. Half a year has passed and it's only getting worse... It's a mix of economic interests and the fact some in the health system can't accept something they don't have a patent over."
Shahaf Bendreker, one of the organizers of the rally, said, "the rally is a direct continuation of the effort to support different legislation calling for a change. Our demands make sense, the public is slowly but surely discovering the truth and the change is inevitable, it's only a matter of time."
Attorney Yaniv Peretz presented a drawing of a bomb and a red line, much like that used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN, saying "For 90 years you've been persecuting a poor plant, it's time to put an end to it."
