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🇮🇱 Israel /Health & Science

Health Ministry changes medical cannabis guidelines, passes responsibility to insurance funds

From Jerusalem Post · (5m ago) English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Israel's Health Ministry is overhauling medical cannabis guidelines, shifting responsibility to health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
  • The changes aim to integrate cannabis treatment into standard medical care, emphasizing medical oversight over consumer use.
  • Key recommendations include phasing out smoking as a delivery method within three years and prioritizing extracts or inhalers for new patients.

The Jerusalem Post reports on significant changes to Israel's medical cannabis policy, as the Health Ministry unveils new guidelines developed by a professional committee. These recommendations represent a major shift, aiming to integrate medical cannabis more formally into the healthcare system and treat it with the seriousness it deserves, rather than as a consumer product.

cannabis may benefit some patients but also carries risks, requiring strict medical oversight rather than treatment as a consumer product.

— Health MinistryStating the rationale behind the new medical cannabis guidelines.

A decade after initial regulations, Israel finds itself reassessing its pioneering model amidst a dramatic surge in usage. With licenses ballooning from 33,000 to around 140,000, particularly since the war's onset, many Israelis are seeking cannabis for pain, anxiety, and trauma. The ministry acknowledges this trend but stresses the need for increased responsibility to ensure effective treatment and mitigate risks. The data is striking: 62% of patients use over 30 grams monthly, 88% of licenses feature high THC, and smoking remains the dominant, albeit concerning, consumption method.

Israel has become one of the world’s leading consumers of medical cannabis, with licenses increasing from 33,000 to approximately 140,000.

— Data presented to the committeeHighlighting the significant rise in medical cannabis usage in Israel.

Central to the reform is a proposed three-year phase-out of smoking cannabis, deemed an unacceptable medical delivery method due to inconsistent absorption and health risks. New patients will be encouraged to start with extracts or precision inhalers, with smoking only permitted in limited, strictly supervised clinical cases. Furthermore, a structural overhaul will transfer full responsibility for diagnosis, approval, monitoring, and dispensing to Israel's HMOs, integrating cannabis into patients' comprehensive medical records. This move is expected to take about a year for the health funds to implement, marking a new era for medical cannabis in Israel.

The committee determined that smoking is not an acceptable medical delivery method due to inconsistent absorption and inherent health risks.

— The committeeExplaining the reasoning behind the proposed phase-out of smoking cannabis.
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Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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