Medical Marijuana Debate Heats Up in Israel
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The debate over medical marijuana use in Israel has gained momentum in recent weeks, as evidenced by the vociferous attacks on Health Minister Yael German’s Facebook page and the protests outside her home last week, as well as the Knesset Health Committee discussion on the subject on Monday.
That meeting ended with an announcement that 11 more doctors would be authorized to prescribe medical marijuana by the end of the year, bringing the total number of doctors authorized to prescribe the drug to 19 by year’s end.
After the health ministry began regulating medical marijuana, only the ministry’s medical cannabis unit was permitted to approve patient requests for the drug. In addition, eight oncologists from Sheba, Assaf Harofeh, Rambam and Rebecca Sieff hospitals were accredited to prescribe medical marijuana to cancer patients in an effort to shorten the waiting period for Health Ministry approval.
The ministry also said it intends to certify doctors outside of central Israel to directly prescribe marijuana treatment, including both oncologists and other specialist doctors.
For more, go to Haaretz
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
