The Israeli military is cracking down on soldiers using soft drugs like marijuana, launching a campaign to warn soldiers that using the drugs will have negative consequences both inside and outside the uniform.
“As part of the war on drug use in the IDF, a reform was agreed that would expand the toolbox in combat and allow sanctions against soldiers,” an IDF spokesman’s unit said on Monday.
The new rules were drafted by a General Staff committee investigating drug use in the military.
The new rules will see new sanctions against soldiers using soft drugs, including denying war benefits and grants to each soldier at the end of their service.
“Drug use in the IDF is a violence of IDF capacity,” the IDF spokesperson’s unit said. “The use of drugs in the framework of military service violates the norms and values of the IDF and its mission to defend the State of Israel.
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“IDF soldiers and their commanders play a central role in the defense of the state and its citizens, so the IDF follows a strict and non-compromising policy towards drug use,” the IDF spokesperson’s unit said. “Because of this responsibility, while in uniform, soldiers are committed to a high level of discipline and must maintain consistent competence at any given time.”
The Israeli military treats soldiers found in possession of drugs harshly, even once in cases of use of drugs such as marijuana while a soldier is on leave. According to military rules, any soldier is arrested for using or possessing drugs and criminal charges are filed against them.
Soldiers convicted by military tribunals are granted criminal records, demotion and disqualification from a civilian driver’s license. A soldier can request a pardon from the President of the country only after three and a half years for the termination of his criminal record.
While marijuana consumption in public would still be banned, his bill would allow Israeli adults to own up to 50 grams of cannabis and grow up to 15 plants for personal use. Possessing more than that amount will attract a fine of NIS 2,000 and those who smoke in public will get a fine of NIS 50.
In 2015, haaretz reported that the military was re-evaluating policies regarding the use of drugs such as marijuana, particularly by soldiers on leave, with a view to softening them.
A year later the military began to amend rules relating to the use of marijuana by off-duty soldiers. According to those amendments, while marijuana was still prohibited for all IDF service members, soldiers who were found to have drugs in their systems after returning from leave were not automatically court-martialed, but non-criminal and Had faced internal disciplinary action. discretion of their commanding officers.
“The goal is to give a second chance,” an IDF spokesman said at the time.
A 2018 survey conducted by the Israel Anti-Drug Authority found that 54% of IDF soldiers admitted to smoking marijuana in the past year.