Putting in the work that other countries won’t.
Tyler Koslow
Nearly a decade ago, Yohai Gild Golan, an experienced cannabis pioneer and founder of the medical-grade cannabis company Better, moved from California to Israel for the opportunity to do more for the medicinal marijuana industry. You read that correctly. Although many people perceive the West Coast of the United States as the center of cannabis progressivism, the Israeli government is among the most supportive of medicinal marijuana use in the world.
“What
[Israel’s] federal program allowed us to do, which we were unable to do
in America, is medical research,” says Golan. “It allowed us to do
actual work with doctors and hospitals, to bring agro-technology that
cost a lot and put it in a greenhouse without worrying about the police
coming and tearing it apart. That change, between being in an American state program
and the federal national program in Israel, was all the difference. We
were able to develop specific medical strains that have a unique
cannabinoid, terpenoid, and a specific chemical build that can treat
different ailments.”
After
learning a plethora of top-notch grow techniques during his time in
California, Golan’s vast education helped Israel establish its
federally-approved medical marijuana program. As one of the only
enterprises in the country’s newfound medical industry, Better helped
build the entire cannabis program from scratch, working hand-in-hand
with the strict, albeit supportive Israeli government to create a
well-regulated and affordable medical system for citizens.
A Better employee in a company marijuana farm.
The
process was extremely difficult and time-consuming, and undertaken
without profit immediately in sight, but thanks to the support of
renowned individuals like Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Golan and his company were able to help Israel construct what is now the most developed medicinal marijuana system in the world.
“In
order to maintain our license under these new government policies in
Israel, we had to do everything,” says Golan. “We had to develop
specific medical strain genetics, we had to prove that these genetics
were good and helped each ailment in order to get these ailments
approved by the government. It started with cancer patients, but each
time we wanted to add an ailment, we had to prove that it was OK. We had
to manufacture the strains, we had to do the training of our staff and
patients, we needed to do the processing and the growing, and even the
post-treatment of the patient.”
Golan took his company to Israel to do the research that needed to be done.
When
Better first started testing its medical treatments, such as the EP1,
which is a cannabis strain developed to handle severe cases of epilepsy,
the government gave the company access to strictly desperate patients.
“Only those lost causes that have taken seven or eight different drugs
already and nothing has worked, and modern medicine has given up on
them,” explains Golan. “Now you can give them cannabis.”
The
upside of such difficult cases was that Better’s incredible results
with them stood out even more. “We got the worst cases, but were able to
show results better than any other company in the world, up in the 80
percent and 90 percent level, which is amazing,” says Golan.
Now, with almost a decade of high quality research
under its belt, Better is now preparing to share its findings with
lawmakers and doctors throughout entire world. The information is
especially useful in places like the United States and Europe, where
their governments have refused to allow extensive research on medicinal
cannabis.
A Better marijuana farm.
“We
took our proven medical treatments and medical data and then applied it
to new industries, being able to support governments, regulators, and
doctors as they changed the laws, and made regulations in different
countries,” says Golan. “With that, we are able to give good data to
lawmakers, and were able to further help patients globally with a proven
treatment.
Most lawmakers and doctors want to see facts, and in order
to engage with local qualified partners, we have to leverage our
experience, our technology, and our know-how to establish strong
joint-ventures in different countries.”
At
the end of the day, regardless of Golan’s thoughts on legalizing the
recreational use of cannabis (which remains heavily prohibited in
Israel), Better remains focused on what it does best: developing and
providing treatment-specific cannabis strains to those who need it most.
We’ve learned that specific strains can cure different types of cancer, but not all cannabis cures cancer. With this knowledge, we’re now starting to look at bringing our different treatments that have been proven in Israel to the U.S.”
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