President Isaac Herzog and Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar today issued a special call to anyone who has previously been convicted of offenses involving the possession or use of cannabis for personal consumption and has not previously been convicted of other offenses to submit a request for the erasure of their criminal record.
On 1 April 2019, the Dangerous Drugs Law (Special Fine Offense—Temporary Order) came into effect, stipulating that the offense of cannabis possession or use for personal consumption, when committed for the first or second time (within five years) would be considered liable for a fine. On 9 February 2022, Administrative Rules and Order—Administrative Offenses (Possession and Use of Cannabis) were published, proposing to establish the offense of cannabis possession and use for personal consumption as an administrative offense, without a criminal record.
As a complementary step, and out of a desire to erase the label of criminality and the associated stain from anyone who has previously committed the offense of personal possession or use of cannabis, the President and the Justice Minister called for the criminal record of those convicted of the use or possession of cannabis to be erased.
"It must be emphasized that every request will be considered on its merits, according to its particular circumstances, on an individual basis, considering the abovementioned changes of policy and law," the President and Justice Minister said.
"In addition, it must be emphasized that the special call in this press release does not preclude the submission of other requests for the erasure of criminal records or requests for pardons by anyone in the framework of the President’s general pardoning authorities," they said.