hattip to VIN

As far as I know, marijuana, as a natural plant, does not actually need kashrut certification. Some might say it does, as plants are genetically modified, additives might be included in the final product, whatever. The policy of the OU, Orthodox Union, in the USA, as far as I know, is to not certify marijuana as kosher, even medical marijuana, because of the halachic opinion of Rav Moshe Feinstein prohibiting its use.

Kipa is reporting that while Gilad Erdan, in his previous role as Minister of Internal Security, decriminalized marijuana use, Just Minister Gideon Saar is taking it further now.

Behadrei is reporting on a question posed to Rav Bentzion Kook, a posek in Yerushalayim, by an injured IDF soldier.

The State of New Jersey recently joined the movement and legalized marijuana.

According to the Jerusalem Post, hundreds of bags of cannabis, aka weed, aka marijuana, were dropped in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv today by a drone.

I am very happy that Naama Yissachar was released from prison, and I am happy that PM Benjamin Netanyahu made tremendous efforts to get her out of prison and bring her back to Israel, and he deserves praise for is efforts and success.

Even if she did something wrong, she did not deserve what happened to her. She was being used as a pawn in an international political power play. But for her, for her family, she did not deserve that and the efforts to get her released were worthy and praiseworthy.

I am happy Naama Yissachar got out of the Russian prison and came home safe and sound, but the method of her coming home and the royal treatment she was given was a bit inappropriate and overdone. She could have gotten out of jail and gotten a flight home. She did not need to be picked up by the Prime Minister's plane and she did not need to be given a royal welcome.

need an interesting latke recipe?

Rav Avraham Reznikov, the rav of Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, has issued an interesting psak regarding the smoking of medical marijuana on Shabbos.

To start, Rav Reznikov clarifies that his discussion only deals with medical marijuana that has been authorized for the patient and is legal to take. Regular marijuana, non-medical, is illegal to consume in any fashion, and is also prohibited from a halachic perspective,  and is not under discussion.

So, Rabbi Reznikov says, on Shabbos, it would be preferable to consume medical marijuana in one's food - hash brownies, for example - and that would be allowed as it would be considered food. THC pills, containing the active ingredient, and using a vaporizer to steam the marijuana into you if prepared in advance, would also be allowed.

However, sometimes ingesting the marijuana via alternative methods is not possible. So, base don the Biur Halacha that says that when a sick person might deteriorate and his illness might get worse, we are even machalel shabbos for him.

What about separating trumos and maasros from the marijuana on Shabbos? Rav Reznikov says that medical herbs are exempt from trumos and maasros and shmitts is also not an issue. Marijuana is not considered a food fit for humans.
sources: Srugim and Kipa

and that leads nicely into this video of a rabbi, a priest and an atheist smoking weed together..

Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan has announced a change of policy regarding marijuana use. According to Erdan, private marijuana use will no longer be considered criminal but will be subject to fines. The authorities have to decided to not bother citizens in their homes for private use but to focus on marijuana use in public places.

Regarding private use, first offense will result in a fine. Second offense will result in a doubled fine. Third offense will result in a criminal record being opened. At the fourth offense, the police will consider an indictment.

Kids, however, will be subject to slightly stricter treatment. First offense will result in conditional treatment. Third offense will result in criminal treatment.

Basically, Erdan says society looks at marijuana use differently nowadays and considers it more legitimate. People should not have their futures, and ability to find employment and be a part of society, hurt by a criminal record for something society considers legitimate.
source: NRG

little by little... eventually maybe it will even be legal under certain conditions..

Health Minister Yaakov Litzman today pushed forward with his new directives for medical marijuana, and they were approved by the government.

From now on there will be more doctors approved to give the approval for medical marijuana usage. Also, the medical marijuana will be sold in pharmacies, rather than by a tightly controlled short list of suppliers.

Despite medical marijuana in Israel being much cheaper, and supposedly better quality, than what is available in most other countries, at this time it will not be approved for export (so the growers are upset). Both the Ministry of Internal Security and the Ministry of Health are opposed to opening it up to exports.
source: GLZ

good news for all you people who need to use medical marijuana. These changes generally mean that it will be much more accessible and more easily attainable.

This is pretty strange.

Before Pesach we heard about how Rav Zilbershtein paskened regarding the status of medical marijuana for Pesach, and he brought the bundle of marijuana leaves to Rav Kanievsky to talk about it, and to make the bracha on smelling the fragrance of the leaves.

Some Haredi fellow has filed a complaint with the police against Rav Kanievsky and Rav Zilbershtein for using marijuana. I don't know if he also filed against Rav Zilbershtein.
source: Kooker

can you imagine them being arrested and put in the slammer for this? Obviously they were not smoking it or baking it into brownies, but were analyzing it for religious research purposes, and that should not be an offense.

I do wonder though who brought it to them and where he got it from. Maybe it was one of the licensed and authorized growers, but if not maybe that person should be investigated...

Also, as per the video below, Rav Kanievsky himself seems to never have handled the marijuana, so I think the filing of charges against him are probably misplaced. I wonder if sniffing those leaves the way he did is enough to be considered having broken the law.

and video of the original discussion and blessing has been publicized..

no, that is not Rav Kanievsky checking someone's aravos. Yes, that is Rav Kanievsky checking out someone's marijuana.

Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein issued a psak that medical marijuana is kosher for Pesach and are kitniyos-free, after he inspected it and the growing process and ensuring that there are no grains mixed in with the leaves...

Rav Zilbershtein then brought it to Rav Kanievsky who smelled it and made a bracha (borei minei besamim) after being told that smelling it helps to heal.

In the past day there have been two specific news reports that were reported separately and are seemingly not connected to each other. I think it is very likely they are conected.

The two stories:
1. The OU, for the first time ever, is now giving kashrut certification on [medical non-smokable] marijuana.
source: NBC News
2. A Haredi woman in Bet Shemesh was arrested for growing marijuana (and for neglecting her kids)
source: YWN

So, how are these connected?

I would suggest that this woman in Bet Shemesh was probably opening the Israeli division of the medical marijuana company. And OU Israel was going to certify it.

This entrepreneurial endeavor was ready to break out internationally, though it seems that with her arrest the timing is going to be thrown off a bit

The question is, with some people not accepting the hechsher of the OU Israel as authoritative and reliable, would we have a situation in which some people would eat from the American division certified by the OU but not from the Israeli division certified by the OU Israel?

In Beitar the police uncovered a marijuana lab in someone's machsan - storage room.

In the raid they discovered 56 marijuana plants being grown, including a full lab with lighting and heaters and ventilation...
source: Kooker

At least it was all matza menutak and did not have any problems with shmitta, according to most poskim.

  -- the algemeiner

(the original actually said "at Chabad in Aspen" before it was changed)

hmmmmm.. maybe it is time to take up art