The Health Committee of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, decided at the beginning of June to significantly expand access to medical cannabis, allowing more patients to benefit from it, without be necessary to obtain a special license to use it.
This decision is part of a reform carried out by the Ministry of Health in recent months. As part of this reform, patients suffering from a wide range of illnesses will no longer be required to obtain a license to receive medical cannabis. Patients will receive a prescription similar to other prescription drugs. The regulation will enter into force within six months, after the competent authorities have made the necessary preparations.
The regulations state that from now on, people suffering from the following diseases and medical conditions will be able to receive a prescription for cannabis: epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, dementia, autism (without age restriction), oncological diseases, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and terminally ill patients with a life expectancy of less than six months.
These patients will no longer need a license but will be able to receive a prescription from certain doctors who will receive training in the use of cannabis.
This is a change from current regulations, which require cancer patients with active oncological disease or those undergoing active cancer treatment to relieve symptoms or treat side effects to be licensed. before being prescribed medical cannabis.
Currently, around 100,000 patients in Israel have a license to use medical cannabis, the majority of them suffering from illnesses, pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. During regulatory discussions, patients expressed concern that these particular diseases and conditions were not included in the new regulations.
“This is only the first step; there are other medical conditions that require attention and treatment,” said Knesset member and committee chairman Uriel Busso.
“We focus on patient well-being and the desire to relieve their pain, increase physician availability and access, and lower prices, while addressing concerns about abuse and to the harmful use of the drug,” he added.
