MEDICAL CANNABIS (SHUTTERSTOCK)
The Ministry of Health published today (Monday) the outline of its new reform in the field of medical cannabis, which is intended, according to the ministry, to "improve and reduce regulation in the field of medical cannabis in Israel."
The Ministry of Health claims that the new outline is expected to reduce the scope of regulation of those engaged in the market; To create long-term certainty for those supervised and engaged in the field while transferring responsibility to them; To help reduce the cost of medical cannabis for patients and to promote research and development in Israel.
In practice, the Ministry plans to transfer responsibility for the market to the supervised entities and to improve the regulator's responsibility. In addition, the Ministry will work to implement the transition from licenses to prescriptions - in a way that will facilitate the provision of medical treatment for cannabis.
To date, Israel has more than 120,<> medical cannabis licensees – the highest per capita rate of any Western country.
Medical cannabis, archive photo (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Health Minister Moshe Arbel said in response: "The reform is great news for tens of thousands of citizens in the State of Israel and for the Israeli economy. The Israeli health system also sees medical cannabis as a therapeutic tool – and therefore we are committed to working to make it easier for patients who need it. The new framework for reducing regulation in the medical cannabis market is a step that combines social sensitivity alongside protecting public health."
Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov added: "The field of medical cannabis is undergoing a significant reform that will move the field forward. This is a significant paradigm shift led by the Ministry of Health in favor of regulating the field of medical cannabis in Israel."
The chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians, the Israel Medical Association, Prof. Hagai Levin, expressed his opposition to the cannabis outline, since its default, according to Levin, is smoking rashes. "The cannabis outline was prepared contrary to the recommendations of the Medical Association associations. The plan in its current form endangers public health. The default should not be cannabis smoking rash, due to the accompanying health hazards, including encouraging tobacco consumption."
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Health Minister Moshe Arbel (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Ministry of Health Director General Moshe Bar Siman (Photo: Flash 90, Jonathan Zindel)
Main points of the new outline
- Transition to prescriptions by a specialist – implementation starting at the end of December 2023. One year after the beginning of the implementation process, a follow-up discussion will be held that will include reference to a possible expansion of the outline.
- Facilitating the way farms and factories work while transferring responsibility to them – reducing the number of regulatory controls and the number of inspections required of the dealer who maintains an adequate quality system.
- A change in the way the medical cannabis unit supervises the market while transferring responsibility to the dealer.
- Promoting innovation, research and development – facilitating research approval mechanisms, a structured research license for a farm or factory owner, granting researchers permission to issue cannabis prescriptions to research subjects and creating a clear procedure for proving safety and efficacy of use.
- Encouragement and simplification of the export process – export on the basis of a declaration without the need for field testing, allowing the transfer of raw material or products between dealers for export, and providing EU-GMP approval by the Institute for Audit and Standardization to factories that comply with this.
- Strengthening medicalization and making it easier for patients – updating Procedure 106 and examining the removal of restrictions on cannabis treatment as a last line in accordance with medical judgment, automatic extension of licenses on the recommendation of a physician in cases where there are bureaucratic delays, transition to uniform medical packaging according to the pharmacy procedure and labeling according to clinical categories as is customary in the pharmaceutical field.
- Improving the definition of a dangerous drug and referring to CBD – examining the possibility of leaving only psychoactive components with a concentration of THC (and the rest of the THC family of cannabinoids) above 0.3%.
- Approval and publication of a clear and transparent office work procedure.
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- Ministry of Health
- Moshe Bar Siman Tov
- cannabis
- Medical Cannabis