Trump Bullies Israel Into Foregoing Their Medical Cannabis Export Program
President Trump has not made many serious anti-marijuana moves or comments himself since placing Jeff Sessions in the attorney general seat, until now. Based on reports out of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shut down his country’s potentially very lucrative medical cannabis export program plans after President Trump was more than clear with him about his feelings against cannabis exports.
Israel is considered to be one of the world’s leaders in cannabis research and has uncovered a great deal about the complex plant’s makeup. The only country in the world right now that exports marijuana is Canada and if there has been any strong discouragement from the White House towards Canada’s cannabis export program, no reports have surfaced yet.
Netanyahu’s decision came on Sunday night in a cabinet meeting with the nation’s ministers of agriculture, health, and finance. According to reports in the Jerusalem Post and on Channel 2 News, Netanyahu said US President Donald Trump had called him and made clear his “general attitude” against cannabis exports.
“Netanyahu told the ministers that it would not be wise to be the vanguard in this field, noting that Canada is the only country so far that has authorized the export of cannabis,” reported the Post.
Channel 2 news anchor Dana Weiss reported on Wednesday:
“Netanyahu made it clear to the ministers that Israel should not be the pioneer in this context, since besides Canada there is no country in the world that exports the drug,” she said. “At this stage, the Treasury will remind the participants that any confrontation can be avoided if the government chooses not to export cannabis to the United States, but Netanyahu reiterated the administration’s position in Washington, stressing that it would not necessarily serve Israel’s interests. At the end of the discussion, Netanyahu ordered a freeze on the move until the completion of economic tests and an examination with the Health Ministry. “
Israel has been working on developing their cannabis export program for years, and so not only will stopping the program lose them a great of potential revenue but now will also cost them a great deal of money. What do you think Trump could have said to Netanyahu to have him make such an economically drastic decision?
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Benjamin NetanyahuCanada medical cannabis exportscannabis exportsIsrael Cannabis exportsMedical Cannabis Export ProgramPresident Trump
