Marijuana unlikely star of Israel’s elections as cannabis industry booms

Medical cannabis is legal in Israel, but recreational use of the drug is still banned.

In a campaigning field inundated with some of the Middle East’s heaviest issues, from the threat of a new war with Gaza and the occupation of the Golan Heights, marijuana has emerged as a hot topic in Israel. 

Legalised for medical use over 20 years ago, the drug was licensed for export earlier this year, and ahead of a general election next week, the question of recreational legalisation is now being used as a campaigning tool. 

For Uri Zeevi, of Seedo, one of many entrepreneurial companies in Israel that are fast taking the global marijuana industry by storm, the topic entering the mainstream conversation can only be a positive sign of the inevitable decriminalisation of the drug. 

Seedo’s product, developed in the city of Yokneam Illit in northern Israel, allows users to grow marijuana in small home labs, and follow through an app a live-stream of the cannabis plant growing, with its needs being monitored and met by artificial intelligence. 

The company has specific “growth” plans for hundreds of strains of cannabis, a notoriously sensitive plant, as well as some leafy greens and vegetables. [Read More @ The Independent]