When you think of Israel you may not think of cannabis, but this tiny country just slightly bigger than New Jersey has become a surprising leader in the medicinal marijuana industry.

Israel have been researching the medicinal effects of cannabis for decades. In the 1960's, Israeli scientist Dr Raphael Mechoulam was one of the first researchers to identify Cannabidiol (CBD) using confiscated hashish obtained by the police.

As well as discovering CBD, he was also responsible for determining the structure of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical compound that gives cannabis its intoxicating high. These two discoveries were ground-breaking and are responsible for sowing the seed for Israel to become the pioneering nation in marijuana research.

Today Israel is setting the standard in marijuana research with many American companies relocating due to research into medicinal marijuana being encouraged. In 1992, Israel became one of the first countries to trial a medicinal marijuana program within hospitals which has proved so successful it now has around 25,000 Israeli patients enrolled in the program.

Many of the scientific breakthroughs related to cannabis have come from research carried out in Israel. Scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa recently released the preliminary results of a cancer study that examined the effects of 50 varieties of cannabis with 200 different cancer cells. While it’s still far too early to draw any conclusions, their findings look very promising.

The future looks bright for Israel and marijuana; this year Israel hosted the CannaTech Conference, an international summit dedicated to accelerating cannabis innovation. Israel is also set to start selling medicinal marijuana over the counter in pharmacies across the country which is no surprise when you learn the demand for medicinal marijuana in Israel is at an all-time high.

One of the most talked about exhibitors at this year’s CannaTech Conference was start-up company Syqe Medical Ltd who have invented the first metered dose vaporizer built especially for the medical market. This year Syqe Medical Ltd received $20 million for research from tobacco giant Phillip Morris. This proves that the tobacco industry are taking medicinal marijuana seriously and acknowledge Israel as being the leading country in medicinal marijuana and new marijuana technologies.