Israel: Market and regulatory data analysis of the cannabis sector

2nd September 2024: Israel: The Ministry of Health has issued a circular on the enforcement of advertisement restrictions on medical cannabis products. According to the circular, the enforcement actions will focus on advertising for commercial purposes, which is allowed only in professional medical and pharmaceutical literature upon prior written approval from the director-general of the Medical Cannabis Unit. Company names or slogans without prohibited references can still be advertised.
27th August 2024: Israel: The Medical Cannabis Unit has issued a circular restricting the promotion, sponsoring and advertising of medical cannabis products. The circular prohibits advertising and promotion of medical cannabis products in the following ways: through the internet or social media, unless explicitly permitted by the unit; by attributing unapproved medical claims or healing properties to cannabis products; by encouraging recreational or social use; by appealing to young people; and by encouraging excessive consumption through incentives such as lotteries or gifts. The authorities will revoke the business licence of those who fail to comply with these restrictions.
18th April 2024: Israel: The Medical Cannabis Unit has updated Procedure 110, which sets out guidelines for the process of approving medical cannabis export licence applications. To get a licence, exporters are now required to obtain an “export permit” from the Customs Administration as well as an “export licence of dangerous drugs” from the Import-Export Department at the Medical Cannabis Unit by email to import-export.yakar@moh.gov.il.
25th January 2024: Israel: The Medical Cannabis Unit has published a proposed amendment to the procedure for obtaining the Medical Cannabis Good Agricultural Practices (IMC-GAP) and Good Security Practices (IMC-GSP) certificates. The new proposal, which is part of the Ministry of Health’s new reform regarding medical cannabis, will ease the process of obtaining the authorisation and cut the time needed to resolve the application. The proposal will be available for public comments until 11th February.
8th January 2024: Israel: The Medical Cannabis Unit has published for public consultation a draft on the amendments to the procedure to obtain a medical cannabis licence as part of the Ministry of Health’s comprehensive reform. The main amendments concern procedure 106 – licences for medical cannabis use and procedure 107 – process to obtain a licence to produce cannabis for medical use, and focus on reducing fees and simplifying the process for obtaining licences for medical cannabis use and production. The consultation ends on 21st January 2024.
30th October 2023: Israel: The Medical Cannabis Unit published a warning against the use of cannabis after traumatic events. The warning emphasises that cannabis has not been proven effective for the acute phase following trauma and may even be harmful. It recommends that cannabis treatment is only deemed appropriate for chronic conditions, and only after talk therapies or research-based drug treatments.
19th October 2023: Israel: Today the Ministry of Health published for public consultation a proposal to defer the effective date of the amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance from 29th December 2023 to 29th March 2024. The Health Committee of the Knesset (parliament) and the health minister signed the amendments in June 2023, imposing new rules for licensing medical cannabis for patients, producers and growers; simplifying the licensing process; and reducing approval timelines. The public should submit comments before 2nd November 2023.
9th October 2023: Israel: The Ministry of Health has issued an order stating that patients and businesses with medical cannabis licences that have expired or will expire within the next month who can’t renew due to the current situation in the country will receive an automatic renewal for three months from the actual expiry date. A copy of the extension will be sent to the licensees by email.
3rd October 2023: Israel: The Medical Cannabis Unit invites the public to submit their comments to the committee reviewing phytocannabinoids. The committee will formulate decisions regarding the exclusion of products or parts of the cannabis plant that have an intoxicating psychoactive effect from the definition of “dangerous drug” in the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. The committee will not discuss excluding THC from the definition of a dangerous drug. The public should send their comment by email before 29th October 2023.
15th September 2023: Israel: The Medical Cannabis Unit has published for public consultation a draft table on the categories of medical cannabis products it has approved. The table lists the products, their categories, and their THC, CBD and cannabinol (CBN) concentrations. The consultation ends on 24th September. Israel’s new reform on the use of medical cannabis laid down new rules, with products classified by categories, and published on the Medical Cannabis Unit website, to ensure precise concentration indications to combat high THC consumption and non-medical marketing in Israeli pharmacies.
16th August 2023: Israel: The Ministry of Health published the outline of its new reform on the use of medical cannabis last week. The new rules lift some of the regulatory restrictions on growers and producers of medical cannabis, ease the licensing process, and reduce the timeline for approval to 14 days. In addition, patients with specific conditions like cancer, Crohn’s disease, dementia, autism, multiple sclerosis and HIV can now get prescriptions from their doctors without obtaining a licence. The new regulation will come into effect in December 2023.
29th May 2023: Israel: The Ministry of Health has again issued a warning against the use of e-cigs containing synthetic cannabinoids (ADB-BUTINACA and MDMB-4en-Pinaca) known as “Nice Guy”. They are sold illegally under the brand names RM Premium, Snoop Dogg, Fume Orjoy, Premium Vape, and The Bulldog and cause severe mental and physical effects such as psychosis, anxiety and panic attacks, cerebral edema, kidney damage, heart damage and bleeding in the digestive system.

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