Jerusalem Will Host International Marijuana Symposium

A botanist at the second largest medical marijuana greenhouse in Israel, near Caesarea. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman July 27, 2017

After Jews, Muslims and Christians, Jerusalem is now a holy site for one more group: marijuana scientists.

A major marijuana research group has picked Jerusalem as the host city for its annual International Symposium on the Cannabinoids in 2021. The International Cannabinoid Research Society, the oldest group devoted to researching the medical and therapeutic benefits of marijuana, will meet under the aegis of Hebrew University’s Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research.

“Jerusalem holds a special place in the history of the science of cannabis and the endocannabinoids,” Dr. Cecilia Hillard, the executive director of the ICRS, said in a statement. Hillard noted that Hebrew University’s Dr. Raphael Mechoulam was the first to discover the chemical structure of marijuana’s famed active ingredient, THC.

Dr. Mechoulam, who has been with Hebrew University for over four decades, is widely regarded as the “father of cannabinoid research,” and will direct the upcoming symposium.

Israel, which bans recreational marijuana use but encourages medical consumption of the plant, is now considering exporting its greenhouse-grown, medical-grade herb.

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO