The Israel Ministry of Health announced the anticipated reform of medical cannabis regulations in the country in August, which was expected to come into effect on Dec. 29, 2023.
However, due to the Israel-Hamas war, the anticipated implementation of the medical cannabis regulatory reform has been postponed by three months, according to an update provided by cannabis company IM Cannabis Corp. IMCC IMCC on Friday.
The new regulations are expected to significantly reduce the restrictions imposed on the industry, allowing patients easier access to medical cannabis for their treatment. Furthermore, this reform has the potential to boost the country's exports of medical cannabis, benefitting both patients and the economy.
Oren Shuster, CEO of IMC, a cannabis company with operations in Israel and Germany, which was the first Israeli cannabis company to debut on the NASDAQ Capital Market in 2021, remains optimistic despite the delay.
"As I had said when the overhaul of the cannabis regulation was first published in August, we believed it could change the face of the medical cannabis market in Israel, facilitating the access of medical cannabis for many new patients,” Shuster said. “We still believe this to be the case."
In the meantime, Israel has seen a significant increase in the number of licensed medical cannabis patients in the wake of the war in Gaza, particularly those linked with PTSD and pain management. According to the Medical Cannabis Unit of the Ministry of Health’s report, there was a notable surge in the number of new medical cannabis patients in Nov. 2023, with 3,254 new patients receiving licenses, the largest increase in new patients per month since 2021.
"The number of new patients joining the medical cannabis category in Israel had been slowing recently, making this significant increase in medical cannabis licenses obtained in November remarkable,” Shuster continued. “We cannot currently determine if this increase is directly related to the war. We anticipate gaining more insights in the coming months."
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