An anonymous donor has pledged $10,000 to MAPS to enable MAPS to provide technical assistance to a small, legal medical marijuana production facility in Israel. The facility will be directed by an Israeli medical marijuana advocate, and has been authorized by the Israeli Ministry of Health to provide marijuana only to medical marijuana patients formally approved by the Ministry. MAPS is working to provide technical assistance to create an organic, hydroponic, standardized production facility, which will start small and give marijuana away for the next several months. Once a successful track record has been established, the Ministry will determine whether to permit the facility to produce medical marijuana on a commercial basis.
MAPS is bringing Canadian medical marijuana researcher and activist Philippe Lucas, founder of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, to Israel in August to consult on the project. Mr. Lucas is currently a Center for Addictions Research of British Columbia graduate research fellow at the University of Victoria, and is currently involved in a number of research projects related to medical cannabis access and use. His experience as both a federally-licensed medical cannabis user and cultivator should prove useful to this new national program.
