But that was as of two days ago - today it’s probably more. “In Israel we have almost 100,000 patients getting medical-grade cannabis through pharmacies with their license - 93,675, to be exact. “When we talk about the number of people receiving medical cannabis, we’re talking about licenses, not prescriptions, since it falls under the dangerous drug ordinance,” specifies IMCA director Yuval Landschaft. Yuval Landschaft, director of the Israeli Medical Cannabis Agency. How they impact the nearly 95,000 Israeli medical cannabis recipients, as well as the unknown number of recreational users, depends on a range of factors - including where, when and how the cannabis was grown, whether Judaic law categorizes cannabis as a foodstuff, and whether the crop was cultivated for medicinal use. These biblical laws will once again take effect at sundown on September 6, when Jews welcome the new Hebrew year of 5782. Most of the laws, however, deal with agriculture, and include restrictions on planting, tending, harvesting or even claiming ownership of crops that grew in one’s own field. The debate stems from the biblical commandment that residents of the Holy Land observe seven-year cycles culminating in a Jubilee every 50th year, with specific laws dictating matters such as loan forgiveness and the return of property titles.

Will religious Jews be permitted to benefit from the plant in any way while observing the biblical laws of shmita that were set from on high? As many Israelis prepare to “rest the land” during the upcoming agricultural sabbatical year as commanded in the Book of Exodus, a debate has been sparked among rabbinical authorities as to whether locally grown cannabis will be subject to a complex set of guidelines.

Cannabis grow bible table of contents