JERUSALEM — Israel’s Parliament has unanimously approved a law to permit exports of medical marijuana, allowing Israel to tap the lucrative global cannabis market.
Israel will become the third country, after the Netherlands and Canada, to take its medical cannabis global.
The Israeli medical cannabis company iCAN predicts the global industry will reach $33 billion by 2024, as stigma fades and demand grows for the few countries certified to export marijuana.
The Knesset approved the law late Dec. 25, 2018, sending cannabis company shares rising by about 10 percent.
The law was stalled for years over fears from security officials that medical marijuana would leak into the black market. To assuage concerns, the law empowers police to supervise licensing.
The Israeli Cabinet must give final approval — a step seen as a formality.
A woman works at the Tikkun Olam medical cannabis farm near Safed, Israel on Nov. 1, 2012. The Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, voted unanimously late Dec. 25, 2018, to permit sales of medical cannabis for export. Israel would be the third nation, behind the Netherlands and Canada, to sell medical marijuana on the global market. The law must be given final approval from Israel’s Cabinet. (Associated Press File Photo/Dan Balilty)
