Open AccessIsrael: the land of milk, honey and cannabis
Author(s) -
Stacy Shoshan,
Iris Levy,
Paola Rosca
Publication year - 2022
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.26828/cannabis.2022.01.000.26
Subject(s) - cannabis , polysubstance dependence , psychiatry , environmental health , christian ministry , mental health , medicine , drug , substance abuse , political science , law
Cannabis use in Israel has escalated exponentially leading to paralleled increases in psychiatric disorders and admissions to residential drug treatment facilities. Our data from the Israeli Ministry of Health Department for the Treatment of Substance Abuse shows that mental and behavioral disorders due to cannabis use have gone up 825% between 2010 and 2019. Also in 2019, amongst drug and alcohol residential treatment centers, where polysubstance use has become the norm, cannabis was reported as the primary substance leading to treatment admission. 52% of those admitted to treatment listed cannabis as their drug of choice, with a huge gap between cannabis and alcohol in second place at 21%. These statistics are particularly concerning since cannabis is currently available not only in the black market and online in Israel, but also as "medical cannabis." The most alarming issue is that Israel will most likely become the 3rd nation in the world to officially legalize cannabis within the next year.