Drug Committee head seeks redemption for cannabis legalization failure

In December of 2020, Blue and White MK Ram Shefa was hiding in his car in the Knesset parking lot in order to trick his coalition members in the Likud into thinking they had enough votes, before storming into the plenum at the last moment to vote against the government and – with the help of four other MKs – lead Israel to its fourth election within less than two years.

Shefa’s decision to help disperse the government however, meant that he would not be able to put its planned vote for cannabis decriminalization and legalization up for a first reading, freezing the entire process and requiring both agendas to be put to a vote again only under the next government.

His gamble paid off, with dividends. Not only was he reinstated as an MK, but he also entered the most vastly pro-legalization coalition in Israel’s history, with all relevant ministerial portfolios – namely health, public security, agriculture, education and finance – in the hands of advocates for cannabis legalization.

Shefa himself landed a role which could be pivotal to the process: the head of the Knesset’s Special Committee for Dealing with Drugs and Alcohol.

This move also came with the added bonus of ending the 12-year reign of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shefa spoke with The Jerusalem Post last Thursday about his plans for the role, expressing optimism regarding cannabis legalization and decriminalization, which he sees as ways to redeem himself within the eyes of those who may feel betrayed by his choice to disperse the government before allowing legalization to pass a first reading.

When asked what he thought about as he hid in his car, waiting to disperse his own coalition, he told the Post “I thought to myself ‘the public sent me to change the ways of the Netanyahu government. Even if it meant my fellow party members would be upset, the public sent me to put an end to this kind of government, so that, hopefully, something could change.”

I was very tormented during those days, I now speak of this proudly, but back then, I had no idea what would happen,” he said. “We could’ve dispersed one government only to see it replaced by another, more right-wing, Netanyahu-led government that could’ve reigned for years for all we knew.”

“We took a risk and here we are today. I think I can feel very good about the fact that what me and my colleagues did that day led to a change in this government,” he added.

Haskel – who worked together with Shefa after her cannabis decriminalization draft bill passed on the same day as Shefa’s draft cannabis legalization bill last summer – has long been an advocate for cannabis decriminalization.

Shefa says he was happy to see his partnership with Haskel on the subject continue, saying it was one bright spot worth salvaging from the last government, and a possible model for cooperation between the different ideological camps that make up the new coalition.