Public Use Of Medical Marijuana Now Allowed In Israel, With Exceptions
Image by Nikki Casey
By Naomi Zeveloff May 15, 2017
Israeli medical marijuana patients can now use the drug in public as an oil or a vapor, but still won’t be able to smoke it, per new Health Ministry guidelines, reported Haaretz.
The new guidelines are a significant departure from the old rules, which restricted medical marijuana patients to using the herb in their home, alone.
The Health Ministry changed its procedures after realizing that they were causing headaches for patients who moved or went on vacation and had to contact the ministry in order to keep using the drug.
There are some 30,000 medical marijuana patients in Israel.
With relatively lax regulations on studying the herb, Israel has become a world leader in medical marijuana research. The United States, by comparison, categorizes marijuana as a narcotic, making it difficult for scientists to study it.
In March Israel moved to decriminalize marijuana for recreational use.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
