Montel in Israel on Medical Marijuana Quest
Image by iStockphoto
“Fact-finding missions” to Israel don’t usually involve cannabis, but medical marijuana is the reason former talk-show host Montel Williams is currently in the Holy Land.
“Some of the leading science on where and how those chemicals [in marijuana] work is being done right here in this country,” the Emmy Award winner said during the trip.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, Williams has become an advocate for legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, saying he relies on it daily for pain management. He praised Israel’s relatively liberal — but still tightly regulated — use of medical marijuana, saying the drug is vital to his own quality of living. “For me, there is nothing else that can do what it does…when I am not using cannabis, I am thinking about my pain every 45 seconds,” he said.
Israeli doctors are legally empowered to prescribe marijuana, a right given in just 16 U.S. states.
Since the end of his talk show in 2008, Williams has focused much of his energy on “healthy lifestyle” products, several of which he has promoted on infomercials.
His tour of Israel will include meetings with doctors, scientists and lawmakers.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
