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Medical marijuana is about to become a whole lot more accessible in
Israel with pharmacies across the country expected to soon start
providing the substance. Israel’s largest pharmacy chain, Super-Pharm,
which has 225 branches across the country, has been meeting with health
ministry officials over recent weeks to allow prescription dispensation
of cannabis, Israeli newspaper Haaretz Thursday.
Cannabis use in Israel remains illegal, with 20 people a day arrested for soft-drug use.
It is legal for medicinal use and in recent months there has been an
easing of restrictions, leading to a surge in people being treated with
marijuana from just a few dozen a decade ago to 27,000 this year.
Pharmacies
cannot yet sell marijuana, with patients currently receiving the
substance direct from growers via distribution centers or home delivery.
But authorized doctors and pharmacists could soon be allowed to
prescribe it. And Super-Pharm is actively exploring both the
distribution and sale of marijuana.
“Super-Pharm strictly observes
Health Ministry guidelines and is participating in reforms that improve
the lives of Israeli patients,” read a statement from the company. “We
are currently studying all aspects and consequences of the subject [at
hand], with the intention of taking part in this field later on.”
Health
Minister Yaakov Litzman, an ultra-orthodox rabbi, has been pushing for
medical marijuana to be made far more widely available, even if it
doesn’t make him a universally popular figure.
“I'm not sure that my people, my voters are so [happy] about what I did," he told CNN in March.
"If I have to look strictly at how I can help sick people who need this cannabis, I think I did the right thing."
As
well as helping those suffering from a range of diseases, the changes
could also mean big business. Since publishing a road map for those
wishing to participate in the cannabis industry in July, the health
ministry has received over 200 applications for permits to grow and sell
the substance.
“The Pharmaceutical Society of Israel encourages
the sale of cannabis in drugstores,” Miki Ofer, a former chairman of the
organization and a current member of its committee studying the issue,
told Haaretz. “We think that this is the right place for dispensing the
substance, just as it is for other narcotic drugs. Also, economically,
we think that this will be a potential source of profit point for the
pharmacies.”
He added: “After the program comes into effect and
more doctors are certified to issue prescriptions, the number of
patients using the plant will skyrocket to around 100,000."
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