The Times of Israel reports..
Responding to petition seeking annulment of laws barring recreational use and possession, Amir Ohana says he’ll seek to ‘minimize harm’ to offenders
Public Security Minister Amir Ohana on Wednesday signaled support for easing enforcement of laws against marijuana use.
Ohana, whose ministry oversees the police, was responding to a High Court of Justice petition urging the court to annul the criminalizing of recreational marijuana use and possession.
“The stance of the incoming public security minister is… to minimize harm as much as possible to [otherwise] law-abiding citizens who have offenses linked to the drug,” the ministry’s response said.
It also said Ohana intended to appoint a team to weigh a more lenient policy toward recreational marijuana use.
The petition the Public Security Ministry was responding to was filed by Oren Leibowitz, a pro-legalization activist who in February appeared alongside Ohana in a Likud campaign video backing the creation of a legal marijuana market similar to Canada, as well as wiping the criminal records of those convicted of cannabis in offenses.
In the video, Ohana decried the “heavy-handed” enforcement of marijuana laws.
“They took law-abiding citizens and turned them to criminals. Not because they harmed another person, God forbid, but rather because they allegedly harmed themselves,” Ohana, who was justice minister at the time, said in the video in an apparent reference to police and prosecutors.
More at: https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-minister-backs-eased-enforcement-against-cannabis-users/
