Justice minister proposes further decriminalizing recreational cannabis use
The plan won’t allow prosecution ‘other than in exceptional cases,’ limits fines to NIS 1,000, won’t differentiate between first and repeated offenses
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar published a list of proposed new regulations that, if approved, will further decriminalize recreational cannabis use in Israel. Under the new draft guidelines, recreational marijuana use will not be considered a criminal offense at all, and will become an administrative offense — similar to most traffic violations. Recreational use of the drug is currently illegal, though the Public Security Ministry partially decriminalized it in 2017, setting fines and treatment for initial offenders instead of criminal procedures. Under the current rules, first and second offenses are subject to a fine of NIS 1,000 and NIS 2,000 respectively, a third offense requires a conditional settlement deal, and a fourth offense means a possible indictment. (See also: Sa'ar drafts decriminalization of cannabis plan)
