As Legal Cannabis Grows, So Does Need for Research
As Legal Cannabis Grows, So Does Need for Research
September 14, 2016
The Times of Israel — Israel is a pioneer in medical cannabis, boasting the first scientist to discover THC — marijuana’s active ingredient — as well as comparatively progressive laws regarding medical cannabis legality.
Still, there continue to be challenges along the way to medical marijuana legalization due to the fact that cannabis is a natural compound that must be grown rather than produced. This makes it difficult to study clinically, as naturally occurring changes in the plant make it difficult to test consistently.
Prof. Zvi Bentwich
Today, there are currently about 23,000 patients in Israel who have medical marijuana licenses granted by the Health Ministry. The Tikun Olam medical marijuana dispensary in Tel Aviv treats 7,000 people per month. Except for patients with Tourette’s syndrome, patients must prove they have tried at least four alternative methods for managing their pain or illness before receiving a medical marijuana license, which is utilized as a last resort.
“The problem for us is that people want to believe that cannabis is going to cure them, but we don’t have the research yet,” says Prof. Zvi Bentwich, M.D., of BGU’s Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics, who serves at Tikun Olam’s chief scientist.
Prof. Bentwich, a pioneer in the Israeli fight against HIV/AIDS, became interested in medical cannabis after observing the positive effects that marijuana use had on his patients in dealing with nausea and loss of weight.
“In the 1990s, I advocated for my patients to use cannabis, and then I helped get the government to legalize cannabis,” he says. “Previously, marijuana had not been studied clinically. Well-created, legal, clinical studies didn’t exist.”
Today, Prof. Bentwich works with colleagues at Tikun Olam to design clinical studies for various diseases.
“We doctors are reluctant to use cannabis unless evidence is brought forward to prove it,” says Prof. Bentwich.
“In Israel, we are in a position to do pioneering work that has not been done anywhere.”
Read more on The Times of Israel website >>
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