Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of the Orthodox Union’s kosher certification agency, said he has held “preliminary discussions” with several companies interested in obtaining a kosher seal of approval for medical marijuana.
The Forward reports:
…Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of the Orthodox Union’s kosher certification agency, said he has held “preliminary discussions” with several companies interested in obtaining a kosher seal of approval for medical marijuana.
The move comes as legalization of cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes spreads across the country, with many of the leading pro-legalization activists, philanthropists and entrepreneurs drawn from the Jewish community.
Medical marijuana is legal in about half of U.S. states today. A handful of states have legalized recreational marijuana use.
Although Orthodox rabbis appear to have accepted the medical benefits of cannabis, they remain much more cautious about recreational marijuana. Most Orthodox rabbis say it’s strictly prohibited.
Such a view marks a clear divide between Orthodox Jewry and progressive Jews who support across-the-board regulation of pot.…
Progressive Jews see legalization of marijuana as a social justice issue. They argue that U.S. drug policy criminalizes otherwise law-abiding citizens and disproportionately affects black and Latino people, who comprise most marijuana arrests even though white people are just as likely to smoke pot.…
Marijuana is a plant and therefore kosher certification is not necessary for the cannabis itself. But in New York State, where companies are vying for up to five licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana, patients will not be allowed to smoke pot, so they will have to ingest it in other ways — such as capsules, food or drinks, which will require kosher certification for Orthodox patients.…
Many Orthodox rabbis opposed to recreational use of marijuana cite the responsum 40 years ago of the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, who argued that cannabis is forbidden on several grounds, including that it is bad for a person’s health and that getting high leads to a loss of mental, physical and spiritual self-control.
Privately, some rabbis concede that as scientific understanding of marijuana evolves, several of Feinstein’s health arguments against marijuana are beginning to look outdated. Researchers have found that cannabis is less addictive than alcohol and much less addictive than nicotine. They have also challenged anti-marijuana claims that cannabis is a “gateway drug” and that it leads to an increased sex drive or to brain damage.…
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