Pubdate: Sun, 21 Feb 2016
Source: Jerusalem Post (Israel)
Copyright: 2016 The Jerusalem Post
Contact: http://info.jpost.com/C002/Services/Feedback/editors.html
Website: http://www.jpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/516
Author: Niv Elis

FROM HI-TECH TO 'HIGH' TECH, ISRAEL IS PLANTING THE SEEDS FOR A 
CANNABIS ECONOMY

Spark-Up Nation has a pretty good ring to it, don't you think?

Saul Kaye, the CEO of iCAN, certainly does.

For Kaye, whose company is holding its second annual CannTech 
conference on cannabis in Israel next month, the Jewish state is 
fertile ground for growing a cannabis economy.

"Israel is leading the world in research and development, from the 
medical side to the medical devices to the agro side," he told The 
Jerusalem Post in the company's co-working space in Beit Shemesh.

Indeed, Israel has been a leader in cannabis research. Compared to 
the United States, where heavy regulation prohibits many forms of 
marijuana-related research, Israel's regulatory framework has been 
somewhat more relaxed.

The active compounds in cannabis  which has become the preferred term 
over marijuana within the industry  were discovered in Israel by 
Prof. Raphael Mechoulam and Dr. Yechiel Gaoni. Add that to the fact 
that Israel has been a leader in agriculture, medical devices and 
pharmaceuticals, and the formula for a cannabis economy comes together nicely.

"Every business can touch the future cannabis economy. If you're a 
marketer, if you're an online guru, if you are a tech person, if you 
want to develop a drug, a prescription medication, if you want to 
develop grow-tech, everything can be developed into this new 
economy," he continued.

Already, there have been signs of a shift for even looser 
restrictions in Israel.

In May, Police Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino said, "The time has come for 
the Israel Police, together with the state, to reexamine their stance 
on cannabis. I think we must sit and study what's happening around the world."

Dr. Alan Shakelford, known for concocting a strain of medical 
marijuana called "Charlotte's Web" that helped dramatically reduce 
the number and intensity of seizures in a five-year-old girl, moved 
to Israel to join a cannabis research firm because of friendlier regulation.

In August, the insurance group Israel Loss Adjusters Association said 
that "the economic potential of growing Big Cannabis is greater than 
that of the [natural] gas [off Israel's shores]."

In October, Colorado's Gov. John Hickenlooper told the Post that his 
state, which legalized recreational marijuana use in 2012, was 
looking for Israeli collaboration in the field.

Even large corporations that may have shied away from the industry 
have begun showing restrained interest, according to Kaye.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch put out a primer on medical cannabis in 
December, which estimated that there were more than a half-million 
legal medical marijuana users in the US. "Medical marijuana is a 
$2.9bn industry and could at least double if more states legalize 
use," the report said.

According to a report in Calcalist last month, Philip Morris was 
preparing a $20 million investment in Syqe Medical, an Israeli 
start-up that developed a medical cannabis inhaler.

Kaye said members of some large organizations have expressed interest 
in this year's CannaTech conference, including players from the NFL 
and NBA interested in how marijuana might be used for treating 
sports-related traumas, and a representative from Strauss. The 
Strauss Group said it was not aware of anyone planning to attend the 
conference.

ICan, in particular, is interested in the market developing around 
medical cannabis, and is developing products to deal with the side 
effects as well as find legal ways of financing companies (US federal 
law makes such financing difficult).

Kaye said that by 2018, the industry will reach $60 billion globally, 
"and that's just cannabis, not the ancillary services, the lighting, 
the water, the electricity, everything we're talking about a very 
large economy."

The floodgates may open further should a new outline regulating 
medical cannabis pass in the Knesset.

"Even in Israel, cannabis is registered as an illegal drug, When you 
get a license in Israel you get a license to use an illegal drug," 
Kaye said. The new regulation would fix that, and allow doctors to 
prescribe cannabis instead of requiring licensing for Israel's 23,000 
medical cannabis patients.

Kaye cited Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg and Likud MK Sharon Haskel as the 
top advocated of a new approach, though he notes that a surprising 
number of parliamentarians who have seen the effects of medical 
cannabis have become advocates as well. Haskel, he said, is set to 
propose a decriminalization bill that would allow people to grow up 
to one plant and possess up to 5 grams of marijuana, though its 
passage is far from assured.

"When we talk about cannabis as a new industry, it's only new because 
the regulations are allowing it to be new. It's always been there, 
it's illegal, it's underground, and now we're bringing it to the 
light, so if Israel positions itself well it will continue to be a 
global leader," Kaye said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom