Low times for pot smokers

Lebanon war causes pot prices to spike

Pot prices rise eightfold due to shortage caused by heightened security on northern and southern borders
Reuters

Low times for pot smokers: A newspaper report in Israel indicates that the war in Lebanon during the summer between Israel and Hizbullah has dramatically raised the prices of cannabis in Israel, sending pot smokers everywhere into a frenzy.

According to a report in Yedioth Ahronoth Tuesday, the prices of cannabis have increased eight-fold since the beginning of the war.

The high price of the narcotic is estimated to be a direct result of supply shortages due to heightened security on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. For many years the border with Lebanon has been fertile ground for drug trafficking into Israel, many times with full cooperation between Israeli citizens and Hizbullah terrorists from across the border.

Last month, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter visited the village of Ghajar on the northern border and received a security briefing on the security and narcotics situation in the village which is split between Israel and Lebanon.

A senior officer said during the briefing that "while we are sitting here, dozens of kilos of drugs are making their way into Israel through the village." He explained that local citizens of the village are used by Hizbullah terrorists to gather intelligence about Israel in return for drugs coming in from Lebanon and called it "an equation of drugs for terrorism and intelligence."

The security situation in the southern border with Egypt has also hampered the efforts of smugglers to bring pot into Israel. The IDF's efforts to prevent weapons and explosives from reaching the Gaza Strip have also resulted in a shortage of drugs for the consumers in Israel.