Photo Credit: TPS

A new Israeli study at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv will examine the impact of cannabis on Coronavirus (COVID-19) patients.

The new study is investigating whether one of the active substances in cannabis, cannabidiol, can slow down the inflammatory process that accompanies the deterioration of severe Coronavirus patients and alleviate the symptoms of the disease.




The study is being conducted in collaboration with a number of the wards in the hospital and is expected to involve dozens of moderately ill patients.

Dr. Barak Cohen, a senior anesthesiologist and head of the Corona management at Ichilov and the research’s initiators, stressed that “this is a novel approach to treating some of the symptoms, using a component of the cannabis plant that is considered safe and non-addictive.”

The study is initiated by the hospital and is currently not related to any company.

Cannabidiol (CBD), which accounts for up to 40% of the plant’s extract, has been researched for the treatment of anxiety, cognition, movement disorders, and pain.

The cannabidiol drug Epidiolex was approved by the US’ Food and Drug Administration in 2018 for the treatment of two epilepsy disorders.