Israel Ministry of Transportation recently toughened a number of traffic rules, one of which, opponents say, could invalidate a driver's license for having smoked marijuana even up to a month earlier, Xinhua reported.
Israeli traffic police in the Tel Aviv area have recently begun cracking down on motorists suspected of "driving under the influence" of drugs and alcohol.
The problem, opponents of the ruling say, is that the Israeli law says an individual who smoked even one marijuana cigarette up to a month earlier, even in a legally permitted medical framework, is considered to be "driving under the influence," and could lose his license.
"In the amendment, they removed the term 'driving under the influence,' as previously written, and added in its place four new types of 'inebriation,' although legally, they are not drunk," attorney David Kolker, who specializes in traffic laws, told local news service Ynet on Monday.
One category relates to a person who drove a vehicle, and afterward "drug products," or "drug residues" were found in his body after taking a urine test, according to the report.
"The difference between "drug products," and "drug residues" is the difference between heaven and earth, explains Kolker.
He said that the "products" of a drug is a term referring to acids that stay in the body long after drug use, and are broken down slowly in the fatty tissues.
For instance, if a person has medically-distributed marijuana or smoked cannabis while traveling to the Netherlands, and then took a urine test a month later, hashish acid will appear, as described in the scientific literature in the field of criminal toxicology as inactive and without psychoactive side effects.
The immediate result of such test results, according to Kolker, will be that the arresting officer can cancel the driver's license for a month, impound his vehicle, and immediately bring him before a judge to cancel his license until the conclusion of the legal process.
"Usually, that individual will lose his license for a period of two years," Kolker added.
The police, however, insist that the idea behind the amendment is to get "heavy users" off the roads and not excessively punish the average motorist caught with a joint.
"The police intend to enforce these rules only towards serious offenders, in order to indict them on several counts, and not to come down hard on simple users," a senior police officer told Ynet.
Kolker, for his part, though, says the issue is about the details within the written law and not the good intentions of a cop at the scene of a traffic stop.
"I do not support driving under the influence of drugs," Kolker said. Anyone who drives drunk or on drugs is both a potential murderer and potential suicide.
"But, if an individual is not drunk or high in reality, the lawmakers should not label him as such," Kolker said.