The Israel government has announced that they will be spending millions to study various aspects of cannabis.
The studies will be done in collaboration between the Ministry of Health’s medical cannabis unit and the Ministry of Agriculture’s chief scientist unit. According to the Ministries of both agencies, they will be providing ILS 8 million (roughly $2.1 million) to fund 13 different cannabis studies.
The studies will reportedly be financed through a fund operated by the chief scientist unit. The studies will deal with both medical and biochemical aspects of the plant, in addition to at least one study on how to improve medical cannabis crop yields.
According to Globes, among the biochemical and medical studies are “identification and specification of new ingredients in strains of medical cannabis, the use of cannabis and its effect on vision, involvement of cannabis in the development of colon cancer, treatment of multiple sclerosis using cannabis, the use of cannabis to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, and a test of the plant’s ability to delay the development of harmful bacteria.”
In addition to these trials, the government agreed to fund research examining the development of new and improved technologies for “irrigating and fertilizing cannabis plants, improved ways of dealing with plant diseases and pests that attack the cannabis plant, development of methods for multiplying and grafting cannabis plants, establishing a genetic bank and national bank of medical cannabis plants, improving and developing new cannabis strains, and more.”
The studies will be conducted by a coalition of research institutes, universities, drug companies and hospitals.
Unlike in the United States, medical cannabis is legal nationwide in Israel, making studying cannabis a reasonable possibility.
