On Thursday afternoon, Israeli cannabis campaigners representing the “Green Drone” Telegram group dropped hundreds of plastic bags each containing 2 grams of cannabis flowers over Tel Aviv, Israel, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
Dozens of passersby were recorded picking the bags up off the streets and pavements surrounding Rabin Square in downtown Tel Aviv, with some even stepping into busy traffic to retrieve bags.
The “Green Drone” group advocates for legal recreational cannabis in Israel, a country which has already legalised medical cannabis. Before the event, activists published a statement via Telegram, a secure online messaging platform:
It’s time my dear brothers. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the green drone, handing out free cannabis from the sky… Enjoy my beloved brothers, this is your pilot brother, making sure we all get some free love.
The message also indicated the drop was part of a wider plan to distribute an entire kilo of cannabis for free across the country as part of a plan to combat lockdown measures. However future drops may have been thwarted, as police announced shortly after the incident that it had arrested two suspects in their 30s, who allegedly operated the drone that flew over Rabin Square which scattered the bags of cannabis.
הזייה בכיכר רבין: רחפן הטיל מהשמיים עשרות שקיות של מריחואנה. מי שעומד מאחורי המיזם זאת קבוצה שמכנה את עצמה "הרחפן הירוק". בגלל שלא חישבו נכון את הרוח, רוב החומר התפזר על הכביש באבן גבירול. עוברי אורח נהנו מהשלל@ynetalerts pic.twitter.com/xeziJsH950
— איתי בלומנטל Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) September 3, 2020
Cannabis laws in Israel are tough for offenders caught selling, supplying or trafficking the drug. However, medicinal use of cannabis is permitted, and personal use was partially decriminalised in April 2019. The country has emerged as a leader in the global development of medical cannabis, industrial hemp and cannabis technology.
