Yahoo – AFP,
February 6, 2017
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli ministers on Sunday endorsed a draft bill to legalise export of cannabis for approved medical use, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's office said, without elaborating.
Recreational use of cannabis is currently illegal in Israel, but in the past decade its therapeutic use has not only been permitted but encouraged (AFP Photo/JACK GUEZ) |
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli ministers on Sunday endorsed a draft bill to legalise export of cannabis for approved medical use, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's office said, without elaborating.
Adoption by
the ministerial committee on legislation, which meets outside the full cabinet,
means that the draft will now move forward as a government bill.
No date was
set for a first reading.
Shaked's
office said that a scheduled debate on decriminalising marijuana use in favour
of fines and treatment was put back until next Sunday.
Although
the recreational use of cannabis is currently illegal in the Jewish state, for
the past 10 years its therapeutic use has not only been permitted but
encouraged.
In 2015,
doctors prescribed the herb to about 25,000 patients suffering from cancer,
epilepsy, post-traumatic stress and degenerative diseases.
The purpose
is not to cure them but to alleviate their symptoms.
In January,
the agriculture ministry said it planned to invest eight million shekels ($2
million, 1.98 million euros) into medical cannabis research projects.
In January
last year, US tobacco giant Philip Morris ploughed $20 million into Israeli
company Syqe, which produces precision inhalers for medical cannabis.
Last month,
Israeli public security minister Gilad Erdan announced his support for
decriminalising recreational use.
He said
that he had adopted the conclusions of a commission created to study the issue
and which recommended the move.
Shaked has
reportedly indicated she will support it.
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