Letter From Israel

KEEP ON THE GRASS

The Pot Party Battles Nerve Gas

JAFFA--The country is going to pot. No one seems to mind. It makes us
feel like we live in a normal 21st-century nation instead of some
backward place where two peoples, neither of whom eats pork, kill each
other over a piece of scrubby land.

We're having elections at the end of this month. You've probably heard
more about them than you ever wanted to know. Same here. The TV and
newspapers talk about nothing else, except the sunny prospects for war
with Iraq.

The election issues are clear: peace or war; prosperity or economic
collapse; clean government or rampant corruption; legalized or illegal
grass.

Now, Israelis are pretty smart people . . . except when they vote. The
polls reinforce that conviction. Of the four main issues, the
electorate is bound to be wayward on three.

That's right: On January 28 it looks like we will have a clear vote
for war, economic ruin, corruption, and legal marijuana.

The polls say Israeli voters are going to re-elect Ariel Sharon
despite all the allegations of corruption within his Likud Party,
despite the sinking economy, and despite his failed policy of
answering Palestinian terrorism with massive military force, thus
provoking more terrorism.

"One explanation," said columnist Yoel Marcus in the daily Ha'aretz,
"is that a portion of the public is suffering from shell shock and
doesn't believe in changing generals in mid-battle."

The main factor in Sharon's favor is the looming war with Iraq. People
are worried about having a new kid in the driver's seat when Saddam
Hussein begins lobbing chemical and biological weapons, or worse, at
us.

But Sharon is not the only politician playing the Saddam card. Now we
have the Green Leaf Party touting the potential of marijuana as an
antidote to Saddam's nerve gas of choice, soman.

The Green Leaf Party sits on the liberal left and wants all the
appropriate things--peace with the Palestinians, separation of
synagogue and state, and lots of social benefits. But everyone knows
what they really want--the legalization of marijuana.

Marijuana has been a medicine-chest staple in this area for centuries.
A few years ago, Israeli scientists found cannabis residue with the
skeleton of a young Jerusalem girl who evidently died in childbirth
1600 years ago.

The scientists said the marijuana was probably used by the midwife to
ease the girl's pain.

Israelis are very fond of ancient lore, and of traditional medicines
in particular. According to the Israeli Anti-Drug Authority, there is
a market for about 25 tons of marijuana and hashish every year in Israel.

Green Leaf, which says it will pay for all those extra social welfare
programs with taxes on grass, is growing by leaps and bounds thanks to
the rising contempt of young voters for the existing political
establishment.

The polls show the party winning between two and eight seats in the
120-seat Knesset. That may not seem like many to you, but pollsters
say Sharon is unlikely to win more than 35 seats, which means he will
be scrounging around for coalition partners when he tries to form a
government. With eight seats, Green Leaf could write its own ticket.

Green Leaf has a modest proposal for dealing with an Iraqi nerve gas
attack. Instead of injecting ourselves in the thigh with the drug
atropine that comes with gas mask kits, Green Leaf suggests that
citizens might simply light a joint, lie back, and enjoy the show.

Green Leaf cites research conducted by the U.S. Army and the
Israel-based Pharmos Corporation. Rats were exposed to nerve gas and
then injected with dexanabinol, a synthetic substitute for hashish.
The army tests reportedly showed that the injection reduced brain
damage by more than 70 percent.

Green Leaf says that what a synthetic will do, the real stuff can do
better. It's demanding that the Israeli army consider providing the
population with this natural antidote. The grass, Green Leaf says,
could come from confiscated dope stored in police warehouses. And
there is said to be tons of it. Just one toke should do the trick, so
there'd be plenty to go around.

Convinced, I went out to score a nickel bag. In my neighborhood, I
didn't have to go far. Would you believe it? A nickel bag now costs
$50!

Before making that kind of investment, I called Pharmos to check the
facts.

Dr. George Fink, Pharmos's vice president of research, was very
explicit.

"Our research has been done in collaboration with the U.S. Army," he
said. "The results of testing on animals show that dexanabinol is
effective in counteracting the brain-damaging effects induced by nerve
gas. In fact, there is robust evidence."

Dr. Fink explained that dexanabinol is a neuroprotectant that may soon
be on the market for use with traumatic brain injuries. But it is not
yet available for use against nerve gas.

"It needs to be modified to make it suitable for nerve gas," he said.
"It's not yet in a formulation suitable for rapid administration. We
are working toward it, and it could easily be done."

Dr. Fink pooh-poohed the notion that a joint would work just as well.
But he seemed to understand why some people would prefer it.

"Unfortunately, dexanabinol is a synthetic derivative," he said. "It
has none of the psychological effects of cannabis--it doesn't make you
happy or give you a high."

Despite all the hoopla, Israel is relatively well prepared for most of
the chemical or biological warfare agents that Saddam might use in
retaliation for an American attack. Atropine syringes for use against
nerve gas are standard stock in most Israeli bomb shelters. And
Israeli hospitals have enough smallpox vaccine on hand to inoculate
the entire population, including tourists and foreign workers, within
a few days.

Unfortunately, medical facilities in neighboring countries, including
the Palestinian Authority, can be termed inadequate at best, and
hygienic conditions are poor. There is, therefore, a real danger of
any epidemic becoming pandemic throughout the Middle East.

According to the usually reliable DEBKAfile, Jordan has deployed
troops along its borders with Israel and the West Bank to prevent
Palestinians, who might flee the contamination of an Iraqi biological
attack on Israel, from carrying the infection into Jordan.

In the best-case scenario, the gusty winds we get in this area in
January and February might just blow all the disease microbes straight
back into Iraq--sort of a giant germ boomerang. But you have to be
stoned to believe in miracles.