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.
