It has been just over a year since Israel’s last government passed two now-defunct draft bills to legalize and decriminalize recreational cannabis.
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation voted this past weekend however to advance a bill that would decriminalize the possession of up to 50 grams of cannabis or 15 cannabis seeds for individual recreational use.
The law would also change the current fines system for cannabis use in public. Currently users face first time offense fines of NIS 1,000 and second time offense fines of NIS 2,000 before criminal charges are issued. The new new law would lower the fines to NIS 500 and eliminate the option to criminalize the user.
If someone is found to possess over 50 grams of cannabis in public, but they can prove that it is for their own personal use and will receive a fine of NIS 2,000.
The law will also allow people to appeal to Israel’s Attorney-General to retroactively void any criminal records they may have as a result of recreational cannabis use. It would additionally reclassify CBD as a food additive.
The new government sees decriminalization as a necessary first step as it works on legislation to create a framework for a legal, recreational cannabis market.
The bill heads to the Knesset with the support of the coalition.
“The goal of the bill is to stop the police from pursuing cannabis users who do not harm anyone,” said its sponsor, New Hope faction chairwoman Sharren Haskel. “This will prevent individual users of cannabis from being prosecuted and stop the issuing of millions of shekels’ worth of fines.”
