Israel

Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset, is expected to vote this week on a law that would decriminalize cannabis possession, according to a High Times report. The law would change the penalty for cannabis possession from jail time to a simple fine for the first three offenses. The fine ranges from 1000 – 2000 shekels, approximately $275 – […]

Starting April 20, some Israeli pharmacies will begin selling medical cannabis products under a national pilot program, CTECH reports. The program, approved by the government in 2016, will see participation from 20 pharmacies as part of a broader Ministry of Health-approved expansion. That expansion included overhauls to reduce patient wait times and a product export plan; […]

Israeli medical cannabis company Medivie Therapeutics and its subsidiary High Pharma has announced a $110 million deal to cultivate and manufacture medical cannabis products for a European client in what the company calls the largest deal of its kind in Israel to date, the Times of Israel reports. The company indicated that if the federal […]

A study published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine conducted medical cannabis producer Tikun Olam found 96 percent of cancer patient respondents reported an improvement of their condition through the use of medical cannabis. The study encompassed 2,970 cancer patients with an average age of 60 who reported sleep problems, pain, nausea, and decreased […]

In a study published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, Israeli researchers, including Raphael Mechoulam, found that after six months of medical cannabis treatment, 18 percent of 2,736 patients over age 65 were able to stop or reduce their opioid use. Pain and cancer were the two most common indications for cannabis treatment in […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preventing medical cannabis companies from exporting products – a move that was approved in August by Finance and Health Ministers – pending a policy review by the Health Ministry and the National Economic Council chairman, according to a Haaretz report. The program suspension comes after the Public Security Ministry […]

According to a leaked internal memo outlined by Haaretz, police in Israel are set to begin treating small quantity cannabis cultivation as relatively minor “personal use,” instead of the more serious “possession not for personal use” or “growing a dangerous drug” which those caught growing either one plant or a whole field have traditionally been […]

CIITECH, a cannabis biotech startup developing Israeli cannabis products in the United Kingdom and European Union, has awarded research funding to two Hebrew University scientists to explore the possible effects of CBD on asthma. The Hebrew University team includes asthma researcher Francesca Levi-Shaffer and Raphael Mechoulam, who is credited with discovering the endocannabinoid system. “We […]

Israel-based medical cannabis company Panaxia has partnered with Canada’s Bioceutical Corporation to set up four medical cannabis production plants in Arizona, Nevada, Maryland, and Massachusetts, according to a report from Globes. Last year, Panaxia set up a similar production facility in New Mexico, which went online in March. The agreement will see Bioceutical Corp., which […]

Israeli Finance and Health ministers have approved a plan allowing medical cannabis to be exported from the country in a move that is estimated to bring in between NIS 1 billion ($279 million) to NIS 4 billion ($1.1 billion) in revenues, the Jerusalem Post reports. Exported products will include all forms of medical cannabis produced […]

Israel’s Health Ministry will introduce a new system of medical cannabis distribution in August and invest NIS 2 million (USD $567,928) into the system in order to hire clerks to speed up the process and reduce waiting times, according to a Jerusalem Post report. The reforms will also see about 100 physicians able to provide […]

New medical cannabis rules in Israel will reduce wait times for patients to receive authorization to use and possess medical cannabis and patients will now be allowed to consume cannabis as an oil or vapor in public, according to a report from Jerusalem Online. The new rules are effective immediately as Israeli Health Minister Ya’akov […]

Researchers at Germany’s University of Bonn, along with colleagues from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, report that low doses of THC can help reverse some of the effects of brain aging and assist in restoring memory, according to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine. The studies were performed on mice, and […]

Tikun Olam, a medical cannabis provider in Israel known as T.O. Global LLC in North America, has partnered with CW Nevada LLC to bring its products into the state’s legal cannabis market. The announcement follows a successful pilot program in Delaware. The products will be branded Tikun in the states and are expected to launch […]

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has launched the Multidisciplinary Center of Cannabinoid Research which will conduct and coordinate research on cannabis and its biological effects in an effort to determine its commercial applications, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. Raphael Mechoulam, the chemistry professor who is credited with discovering THC in 1964 and later identified the […]

Steep Hill Labs will bring its talents to Israel, announcing that the company has entered into a joint venture with iCAN: Israel-Cannabis. The partnership will see Steep Hill open an analytical, genetic, and research and development lab in Israel to further cannabis research. “We believe that Israel is the epicenter of cannabis research and development,” […]

Israel’s Health Ministry has issued 37 preliminary permits to farmers to build facilities to cultivate medicinal cannabis, according to a Jerusalem Post report. If the farmers receive the additional permits necessary to begin construction, the number of medical cannabis growers in Israel would rise significantly as there are currently only eight licensed producers growing crops […]

Israel’s cabinet has approved the decriminalization of cannabis and an inter-ministerial team will next propose amendments and regulations required to carry out the new policy, according to Haaretz. Under the plan, first-time offenders caught using cannabis in public will be fined $271, which will be doubled on the second offense. A third offense will lead […]

Kalytera Therapeutics has completed the acquisition of Israel-based Talent Biotech in a deal worth more than $10 million, the company announced in a press release. To date, the Massachusetts-based firm has made $10 million in cash payments and issued 17,301,208 common shares to Talent, and will pay up to $20 million in aggregate future contingent […]

An Israeli government committee has moved forward plans to allow the exportation of medical cannabis from the country, but it could take months to move through the nation’s parliament, according to a report from Reuters. The plan was announced in December by an inter-ministerial committee of director generals, comprised of the Ministries of Justice, Finance, […]

According to the head of Israel Police’s drug research unit, there were just two indictments filed related to cannabis in 2016 in the entire country, Haaretz reports. During a legislative Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse hearing, Keren Lerner, the head of the unit, indicated that between 2010 and 2015 there was a 30 percent […]

Israel’s Agriculture and Health ministries will provide NIS 8 million, or about $2.1 million, in funding for 13 medical cannabis studies, according to a Globes report. The agreement is the first-of-its-kind between the Ministry of Agriculture’s chief scientist unit and the Ministry of Health’s medical cannabis unit. The research will be aimed at biochemical and […]

Israel is easing its punishments for soldiers who are accused of using cannabis while on leave, according to an Agence France-Presse report. Under the new rules, soldiers who test positive for cannabis when they return from leave would be forced to undergo regular tests to prove they are not using while on duty. Under the old […]

Lawmakers in Israel are likely to  recommend that the nation should start exporting medical cannabis soon, saying the industry would create thousands of agricultural jobs and be worth 1 billion Israeli New Sheqel (more than $2.6 billion), according to a Yediot Ahronot report cited by Globes. The plan was proposed by the inter-ministerial committee of director […]