In the Book of Exodus in the Bible, the tribe of Israel, having left Egypt, were lost and hungry. As their tummies rumbled in their time of need, help from above came in the form of “manna from heaven”, a white flakey substance, said to taste like honey. Researchers theorize that the manna referenced in the holy text was possibly the sap of the tamarisk tree, or perhaps Haloxylon salicornicum, another desert shrub found in that area of the Middle East. Whichever plant it was, legend has it that the plant sustained the starving Hebrews on their way to their new home.
Recently, a group of cannabis enthusiasts in modern day Israel have made the skies rain down with a new plant of their own. The name of the group is “Green Drone”, and they plan to drop one kilogram of cannabis, broken up into five hundred 2 gram bags, on cities and towns throughout Israel as part of their campaign to bring “Free Love”, the group’s slogan, and cannabis awareness to the entire country. Talk about making it rain! The group sees drone delivery as a safe and viable way to deliver cannabis to medical patients and recreational users throughout Israel during the Covid 19 Pandemic. Shortly before the group made their first drop over Rabin Square in the city of Tel Aviv, they issued the following statement: “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.” (Let’s hope the sisters, and anyone else who needs it, also get some of the pot, too)
The cannabis drone drops are part of a project Green Drone is calling “Rain of Cannabis”. As the green rain fell, excited citizens of the coastal city scrambled into the road to grab as many bags of the free bud as they could. Unfortunately, the two heroes operating the drone were apprehended by Tel Aviv police. Despite being one of the world’s hotbeds for cannabis research, the legal use of cannabis is still restricted to a limited number of medical patients in the very country where Raphael Mechoulam first isolated THC over 50 years ago. However, legislation has passed through the lower levels of the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body, that would decriminalize marijuana and make it available for adult use. Let’s hope it gets all the way through, so our generous friends in Green Drone can continue spreading the joy of free weed. Considering Israeli scientists recently discovered cannabis resin on a Jewish religious altar from over 2700 years ago, it might be high time for Israel to embrace it’s canna-history and accept this latest gift from the sky!
By Ken Breese
