Israeli Medical Marijuana Patient Sues Government Over Pesticides

A medical marijuana patient in Israel whose license to grow his own cannabis was revoked in 2013 is suing Israel’s health ministry for providing him with cannabis that was contaminated with mold and dangerous pesticides that are illegal to use on foods.

“Patient R,” as the plaintiff is known, is one of about a dozen Israelis who was permitted to grow his own plants, and is the only patient involved in the lawsuit, the Media Line reported. There are some 23,000 medical marijuana patients in Israel.

Patient R allegedly became sick in 2013 after obtaining his cannabis from Teva-Adir, one of eight cannabis producers in Israel, according to the Media Line. He reported his findings to the health ministry, but after being ignored, he consulted a lawyer who sent samples of the Teva-Adir cannabis plus samples from two other suppliers, Tikun Olam and Seach, to be tested at the Israeli Chemical Testing Laboratory.

The testers reportedly found nine pesticides in the Tikun Olam sample, but none in those from the other two producers. The lab also found that THC levels were several times lower in Teva-Adir’s and Seach’s samples than the THC levels advertised by the grower, according to the paper.

Tikun Olam denied using the pesticides.