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Rabbi Elliot Dorff, an ethics and Jewish law professor at American Jewish University, told the Jewish Journal that Jews could take either side of the Proposition 19 debate. In Judaism, any drug that harms the body is forbidden because God owns the body and Jews have the responsibility to take care of themselves, Dorff said.

At the same time, though, Dorff said, marijuana may be like alcohol, which some Jews do drink in moderation.

“I think that for a lot of addicts, marijuana is a gateway drug, and easy access might accelerate that," said Harriet Rossetto, founder and CEO of the Los Angeles based drug tratment facility Beit T’Shuvah, to the Jewish Journal. “On the other hand, I think criminalization creates another set of issues that exacerbate the problem.”

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