Cannabis News In Israel, World Leader In Cannabis Research
Israel Becomes First Country In The World To Approve A Medical Vaporizer
The Israel Ministry of Health just granted an initial approval to Tel Aviv medical cannabis company Kanabo Research for the development of its VapePod vaporizer.
According to Kanabo, using the approved vaporizer with its formula will help medical cannabis patients to medicate more accurately and effectively compared to other forms of medical cannabis treatments. Smoking cannabis may pose health risks to patients with existing conditions, but the use of VapePod is much safer, healthier, and effective.
“This approval is a significant announcement for the medical cannabis patients in Israel who will be able to use the medical vaporizer for the first time,” says CEO and cofounder of Kanabo Research, Avihu Tamir. “We expect that due to the transition of most of the cannabis consumers to the use of vaporizers, our company is projected to reach $10 million in sales within three years in the Israeli market, while the Israeli cannabis market is expected to reach $100 million in sales within three years. The Israeli market is a platform to deliver our technology to global markets in North America and Europe,” he tells the Jerusalem Post.
Kanabo has started preclinical trials for their formulations to treat sleep disorders using VapePod. They are also working on developing the next version called the VapePod MD, which will come built with additional features including the ability to monitor patient usage and record usage data to help caregivers, as well as doctors to help research purposes.
Israeli Company Signs Record Breaking $110 Million Deal To Grow Cannabis, Threatens Government
Medivie Therapeutic, together with High Pharma, its subsidiary, just announced ta $110 million deal to cultivate and produce medical cannabis for an unnamed European company. However, they threatened to sell all its expertise and knowledge instead of cannabis if the Israeli government doesn’t approve exportation of medical cannabis soon.
Through the deal, Medivie will be able to have 25 acres of land to grow up to 50 tons of cannabis for exportation to the investor who will then pay $30 million within the first year to complete tasks necessary for due diligence. Once this has been done, then the investor will reveal their identity. What will follow is $20 million paid to Medivie each year for rent and preparing the land needed to produce medical cannabis.
Identifying the location of the cannabis plantation will completely depend on what the government decides about exportation of cannabis. Menachem Cohen, Medivie CEO, threatened that they would “not hesitate to transfer its activity and knowledge to other countries if export from the State of Israel is prevented.”
The contract between Medivie and the anonymous buyer includes a clause, saying that the contract may be canceled if Israel doesn’t approve exportation, or if the company won’t be able to grow the cannabis in European land as a substitute. Currently, Medivie already has the rights to 200 dunams of Israeli land for 24 years, but they are looking for more investors.
In 2016, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel revealed that Israel will soon be exporting medical cannabis internationally. In February of 2017, Israeli ministers already endorsed a draft version of a bill that would legalize the exportation of medical cannabis. But in August last year, Public Security minister Gilad Erdan wrote to the finance and health ministers, saying that he was worried about “the harm that could be done by transforming Israel into the flagship country for cannabis exports.” He also echoed the concern of the police force regarding “massive leakage” of legally cultivated cannabis into the black market, and addressed the lack of police manpower in stopping this from happening.
Any developments in Israel’s plans of moving forward with exporting medical cannabis was completely halted when, in early February of this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly ended any plans for exportation. According to sources, his sudden decision came after a call with US President Donald Trump.
This prompted Eitan Cabel of the Zionist Union, who heads the Knesset Economics Committee, to hold a meeting on the issue. During the meeting, government representatives as well as heads of industry and agriculture cautioned that the Israeli medical cannabis industry would be in ruins if they didn’t take the steps necessary for ensuring that exportation pushes forward. Cabel said that he would contact the prime minister to discuss the freeze if the exportation issues weren’t resolved.
“The committee sees great importance in the development of medical cannabis that will provide relief to tens of millions in Israel and worldwide,” Cabel said.
Agriculture minister Ariel said in the meeting, “We have to speed up approval for exports because the best planting time for cannabis is now. If we don’t hurry, we’ll have to wait another year. Now, the prime minister is the address.”
OTHER STORIES YOU MAY ENJOY...
CANNABIS INHALER IN ISRAEL, CLICK HERE.
OR..
