Jerusalem, Israel: Regulators are further easing restrictions on patients’ access to medical cannabis products.
Regulatory reforms approved by the Ministry of Health will allow physicians to prescribe cannabis to patients as a first-line treatment rather than as an option of last resort. (Under current law, doctors must attest that their patients have been unresponsive to other conventional treatments, including opioids, prior to granting them access to medical cannabis products.)
About 100,000 Israelis are currently authorized to use medical cannabis.
Another regulatory change eases legal restrictions on patients’ access to hemp-derived CBD products.
Regulators are also seeking to further facilitate clinical trial research involving cannabis products.
The regulatory changes are anticipated to go into effect this December.