Green Leaf Party head encouraged by Netanyahu’s cannabis overtures

Netanyahu tweeted on Sunday that he decided to expunge the criminal records of tens of thousands of Israelis who used cannabis.

By ZACHARY KEYSER, HAGAY HACOHEN, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An employee puts down an eighth of marijuana after letting a customer smell it outside the Magnolia cannabis lounge in Oakland (photo credit: REUTERS)
An employee puts down an eighth of marijuana after letting a customer smell it outside the Magnolia cannabis lounge in Oakland
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to legalize cannabis use is encouraging news, the head of the Green Leaf Party said on Monday.
“I think this is something that should have been done a long time ago, and I appreciate the prime minister who paid attention, met with me, heard me and made the right decision,” party leader Oren Leibovich told The Jerusalem Post. His party advocates for legalization of the herb.
Netanyahu tweeted on Sunday that he has decided to expunge the criminal records of tens of thousands of Israelis who used cannabis.
“I examined the matter and decided to advance the erasure of criminal records of tens of thousands of Israelis for personal use and possession [of cannabis], something that causes unnecessary suffering to many and is a burden on the courts,” he wrote.
“[Justice] Minister [Amir] Ohana began work on the issue and will lead a committee which will include [medical and legal] professionals… to examine introducing the Canadian model to regulate a legal [cannabis] market in Israel.”
Netanyahu said that the Israeli committee would be advised by Leibovich, whose party isn’t running in the current election and has never been elected to the Knesset.
The Green Leaf Party is a small political contingency that believes in an ideology called “green Zionism,” which entails free-market expansion especially within environmental matters as well as certain issues that may come with environmental policies, such as the legalization of marijuana.
Israel has already partially decriminalized recreational marijuana use, with fines and treatment for initial offenders instead of criminal prosecution. It allows regulated use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, and its cultivation and export by government-licensed growers.
Leibovich said that he personally approached all parties currently serving in the Knesset or running in the upcoming elections to discuss legalizing cannabis. But aside from Netanyahu – who invited him to a personal meeting in his office to discuss the issue – all declined his offer.
“Personally, for me, it is about closing a circle. I embarked on this struggle exactly 10 years ago and I believe that this week we made a significant step on the path to a legal cannabis market in Israel,” Leibovich told the Post.
 “I just hope that a government will come into being and we will not have to go through another election, for the fourth time in a row, so that the promise will also be implemented,” he said.
 Blue and White chairman MK Benny Gantz dismissed Netanyahu’s pledge as a pre-election ploy.
“What you didn’t do during 10 years [as prime minister] you won’t do in another 10 years,” Gantz wrote on Twitter. “[For] years, you sold illusions to the sick who need medical cannabis and to our youth in an attempt to gather votes.”
In reaction, Leibovich explaining that, “although this is being done during an election campaign, which naturally makes people skeptical, I believe the prime minister’s words and have identified honesty on his part in our meeting. In any case, I demanded immediate dowry, even before the election, and I did indeed receive his consent to pardon those who hold a criminal record for [personal use of] cannabis – this is the most pressing issue to carry out,” he said.
“A criminal record is something that destroys people’s lives for no wrongdoing. Over 40,000 citizens can now apply to the Justice Department and it will be approved. After the election, a committee will be formed to examine how to apply the legalization of cannabis in Israel, similar to Canada’s model.”
Marijuana is legal for medical and recreational use in Canada. Canada’s Cannabis Act, the outcome of an election promise by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, allows adults to buy up to 30 grams and grow up to four plants at home for personal use.


Related Tags
marijuana