SAFED,
Israel (AP) — Moshe Rute survived the Holocaust by hiding in a barn full of
chickens. He nearly lost the use of his hands after a stroke two years ago. He
became debilitated by recurring nightmares of his childhood following his
wife's death last year.
"But
after I found this, everything has been better," said the 80-year-old, as
he gingerly packed a pipe with marijuana.
The medical
cannabis industry is expanding as well, fueled by Israel's strong research
sector in medicine and technology - and notably, by government encouragement.
Unlike in the United States and much of Europe, the issue inspires almost no
controversy among the government and the country's leadership. Even influential
senior rabbis do not voice any opposition to its spread, and secular Israelis
have a liberal attitude on marijuana.
Now,
Israel's Health Ministry is considering the distribution of medical marijuana
through pharmacies beginning next year, a step taken by only a few countries,
including Holland, which has traditionally led the way in Europe in legalizing
medical uses of the drug.
Marijuana
is illegal in Israel but medical use has been permitted since the early 1990s
for cancer patients and those with pain-related illnesses such as Parkinson's,
multiple sclerosis, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. Patients can smoke
the drug, ingest it in liquid form, or apply it to the skin as a balm.
In stark
contrast, medical use is still hotly contested in the United States, with only
17 states and Washington, D.C. permitting medical marijuana for various
approved conditions. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says smoked
marijuana is not medicine, and "has not withstood the rigors of
science." In Europe, Spain, Germany and Austria have allowed or decriminalized
some degrees of medical marijuana use.
The numbers
of patients authorized to use marijuana is Israel is still far lower than those
in the U.S. states where it is legal. Colorado, for example, has 82,000
registered users in a population of 5 million, compared the 10,000 in Israel, a
country of 8 million people.
But
Israelis seem enthusiastic about moving the industry forward.
"When
push comes to shove, and people see how suffering people are benefitting, I'm
sure everyone will get behind it," said Yuli Edelstein, Israeli Minister
of Public Diplomacy, as he toured Israel's largest marijuana growing farm,
Tikun Olam, on Thursday and lauded the facility as an example of Israel's
technological and medical advancements.
The Hadarim
nursing home, which encourages medical marijuana use, gives its patients
cannabis produced at Tikun Olam farm, tucked away on nearly 3 acres in the
picturesque Galilee region.
The
company, one of around eight government-sanctioned grow-operations in Israel,
distributes cannabis for medical purposes to almost 2,000 Israeli patients who
have a recommendation from a doctor. The cannabis can be picked up at the
company's store in Tel Aviv, or administered in a medical center.
This year,
the company also developed a marijuana strain used by a quarter of its
customers, said to carry all the reported medical benefits of cannabis, but
without THC, the psychoactive chemical component that causes a high. The
cannabis is instead made with high quantities of CBD, a substance that is
believed to be an anti-inflammatory ingredient, which helps alleviate pain.
"This
is just the tip of the iceberg. It's the future," says Zach Klein, head of
research and development at Tikun Olam, whose logo reads "This is God's
doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes."
Itay Goor
Aryeh, director of the Pain Management Center at the Sheba Medical Center near
Tel Aviv, noted that THC was first isolated in marijuana by Israeli scientists
in 1964. "So we are really on the cutting edge of not just the growing and
distribution, but also on the basic science of cannabis," he said.
He said
legalizing medical cannabis allows authorities to conduct more research and
learn more about how to regulate its use.
"It
has to be researched more, it has to be regulated more, so we know what exactly
we're giving the patient, which strains are better," Aryeh said. "If
you don't allow it, you will never know."
Aryeh and
other proponents say medicinal marijuana is cost-effective and dramatically
reduces patients' needs for other pain medications, like morphine, that can
produce unwanted side effects.
Ruth
Gallily, a professor of immunology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has
been studying the supposed anti-inflammatory effects of CBD for the past few
decades. "We're finally reaching the stage where it's becoming accepted,
and not thought of as 'bad,' but we still have a ways to go," she said.
"Now the next challenge may be the major drug companies accepting the
plant."
Inbal
Sikorin, the head nurse at Hadarim Nursing Home, said the benefits of cannabis
for her patients are undeniable.
"We
know how to extend life, but sometimes it's not pleasant and can cause a great
deal of suffering, so we're looking to alleviate this, to add quality to
longevity," she said, while administering cannabis to a patient using a
vaporizer. "Cannabis meets this need. Almost all our patients are eating
again, and their moods have improved tremendously."
Rute, the
nursing home resident, said the cannabis may not change his reality, but makes
it easier to accept.
His small room
at the residence is adorned with pictures of his deceased wife and figurines of
chickens, which he collects because he sees them as a symbol of pain and hope
from his years in hiding during the Holocaust.
"I've
been a Holocaust child all my life," says Rute, recalling how his father
died at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany, and how nights were cold
in the barn where his neighbor kept him and his several siblings safely hidden.
"I'm
now 80 and I'm still a Holocaust child, but I'm finally able to better
cope."
Pot-based prescription drug looks for FDA OK
U.S. Justice Dept. to Stop Pursuit of Medical Marijuana Use
Evidence for homeopathy builds
"The Recalibration of 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)
U.S. Justice Dept. to Stop Pursuit of Medical Marijuana Use
Evidence for homeopathy builds
"The Recalibration of 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)
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