Sanjay Gupta Goes To Israeli Labs For Breaking Marijuana Research

  As the rest of the world continues to debate the benefits of cannabis and an increasing number of countries pass legislation to make it legal for medicinal and scientific purposes, it is inevitable that more research will be undertaken to determine the effectiveness of cannabis-based medicines in treating even more conditions, from every day illness to chronic diseases.

  Meanwhile, Israel has been quietly turning itself into a world-leading center with its own medical marijuana research programme. Described by Dr. Sanjay Gupta as ‘the marijuana research capital of the world’, Israel has been conducting research into marijuana since the 1960s and is home to the world’s largest medical marijuana production, research and development facility.

  The man widely regarded as the grandfather of medical marijuana research, is Raphael Mechoulam, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem who was the first to isolate, analyze and synthesize the major psychoactive and non-psychoactive compounds in cannabis, and develop a number of marijuana-related treatments. 

  Professor Mechoulam started researching cannabis and its effects in 1964 after realising that no one had tried to understand cannabis and its psychoactive and non-psychoactive ingredients. According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, Mechoulam and his colleagues, using themselves as test subjects, discovered the cannabis plant’s two core substances; tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the psychoactive ingredient and cannabidiol (CBD) and how to test its medicinal properties. 

  He later went on to co-discover the brain’s own endocannabinoid system, which plays a key role in mood, memory and the sensation of pain, discovering that cannabinoids bind to receptors in different areas of the brain and vital organs to trigger different reactions. It’s an area the scientific world is now studying in detail as it seeks to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between cannabinoids and human physiology.  Mechoulam’s contribution to the study of medical cannabis and its benefits has been praised by the deputy director of the Washington-based National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws as having ‘opened the door to making the study of cannabis and cannabinoids a legitimate avenue for more conventional scientists’

  Described by Dr. Sanjay Gupta as ‘the marijuana research capital of the world’, Israel has been conducting research into marijuana since the 1960s and is home to the world’s largest medical marijuana production, research and development facility.