The Israeli cabinet is expected to officially legalize the export of medical marijuana, a major step highly anticipated by those involved in the industry.
Cannabis farmers and businesses in Israel were furious after the Israeli government took a U-turn decision on medical marijuana exports in February.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said it is because U.S. President Donald Trump told him to discontinue the process.
In a recent interview the Jerusalem Post, Oren Lebovitch, who heads Israel’s pro-legalization party, Ale Yarok, and oversees the first medical cannabis cooperative in Israel, shed some light on this issue.
Using Netanyahu’s nickname, Lebovitch said: “One option is that Bibi lied…and he said it in order to not get the heat.”
The official, however, made another speculation.
“The other thing, I thought: Bibi is working with Sheldon Adelson,” he said.
Adelson is an 84-year-old Jewish American casino mogul from Las Vegas, who is worth about $40 million.
“Adelson pays for his campaign, is his patron. And Sheldon – unlike Trump – is really against the legalization of cannabis and is against medical cannabis,” he added.
In 2016, the billionaire reportedly donated $1 million to an anti-pot group in Massachusetts. Adelson attempted to help the anti-marijuana group, which had only $634,000 at the time in the face of legalization advocates, who had $3.3 million, according to the Boston Globe.
Some suggest that Adelson is a staunch marijuana opponent since he “lost a child to drug abuse,” something his wife has spoken about publicly.
Some accuse marijuana of being a “gateway drug,” however, Israeli cabinet proponents of cannabis said “no one died” because of the green herb.
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