Israel continues to blaze the trail for progressive marijuana reform. The Israeli army will drop its rigid punishments for marijuana and adopt a new lenient policy towards soldiers that test positive for marijuana. Israelis soldiers that currently smoke marijuana are subject to being court-martialed and face up to two months in jail.

 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are softening theirs stance on soldiers that are caught with marijuana or hashish. The new policy allows soldiers to smoke marijuana up to five times while on leave. The new rule only applies to soldiers in compulsory service, and not to officers or non-commissioned officers (NCOs)

 

Danny Efroni holds the rank of Aluf, or Major General of the IDF. “We are offering soldiers the chance to continue their service normally and not be imprisoned and hindered by a criminal record in civilian life,” Efroni told Army Radio.

 

According to the The Military Prosecutor's office, the current strict policy has drained resources and is not effective, anyways. The current policy brands marijuana users as criminal Estimates suggest that 40 to 50 percent of military police intelligence resources are wasted on investigating drug crimes. Last year, 128 Israeli soldiers were prosecuted for using narcotics. Marijuana would still be banned, but a loophole would give soldiers the chance to get their case closed or have the charges dropped altogether. Soldiers caught with marijuana would be subject to providing a urine sample once a month for a one-year probationary period.

 

“The army wants to give a second chance to soldiers who want to complete a proper military service and to return to the right path,” the military said in a statement. The IDF is now planning on sending on-duty soldiers that provide a dirty urine sample to rehabilitation instead of pursuing criminal penalties.

 

Marijuana is legal for medical purposes only in Israel. Army commanders will still have the power to impose harsher penalties at will. The new policy will go into effect January 1, 2017.