Justice minister: Israel moving toward legalizing cannabis within 9 months

Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn says Israel is moving toward legalization of cannabis for recreational use within nine months, while balancing “liberalism and responsibility.”

Nissenkorn is presenting the recommendations of an interministerial team that has been reviewing the matter, alongside Likud MK Sharren Haskel and Blue and White MK Ram Shefa, who have both been leading their parties’ push on the issue.

Israel has taken steps in recent years to make medical cannabis available and is poised to become a major exporter of the crop, though medical cannabis users have complained of near-impossible access to the few dispensaries licensed to distribute it.

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.