Israel’s medical marijuana industry is thriving and the Israeli government is funding break through research on the healing potential of the cannabis plant. Mimi Peleg’s job is to teach people how to use pot. How long to inhale smoke or vapor, how to administer sublingual drops or how to ration out a pot cookie. Mimi Peleg is director of the large scale cannabis distribution for Israel’s state run medical program. My work for MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) is not my only job in Israel. I am also the Director of Large Scale Training at the Medical Cannabis Distribution Center (MECHKAR – an acronym meaning “research” in Hebrew), which serves thousands of patients from Abarbanel Hospital, Israel. MAPS is an organization aimed at studying the medical benefits of MDMA, the pure compound in the illegal drug Ecstasy, cannabis, and other drugs, has chosen Israel as a key location for psychedelic research. Like many of my patients, I too have PTSD. Treating PTSD by way of cannabis and MDMA is up close and personal for me both privately and professionally, and I perceive my contribution to the collective goal of “tikkun,” or repairing the world, to be working on expanding medical research into alternative medications in Israel.
