Earlier this month, an Israeli startup, Syqe Medical Ltd., announced its development of a tiny inhaler that will allow patients new to medicinal marijuana to reap the drug's various benefits, without ever having to get high.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, CEO and founder of the company Perry Davidson explained that Israel is at the "forefront" of the medical marijuana industry, an industry that has been thriving for nearly the past decade, with new strands being developed there that have immense medicinal potential, strands that Canadians and Americans are only now beginning to have access to. Concerning the former, one Canadian company in particular, MedReleaf, has been exposed to the breadth of Israel's extensive research, after partnering with the country's most promising medicinal marijuana facility, Tikkun Olam.

Thanks to facilities such as Tikkun Olam, and as Israel maintains its commitment to this sector as a viable drug industry with numerous benefits for patients, the Israel Defense Forces announced Monday that they will allow all reserve soldiers who have a prescription for medical marijuana to continue on with their medication, even during their reserve duties.

While the decision will only apply to a few hundred soldiers, the IDF has left multiple questions still unanswered, including if soldiers will be able to use marijuana out in the open, around other soldiers, etc.

“Medical cannabis is given to treat various diseases under the civilian system,” the IDF mentioned, adding that the conditions of participating in reserve duty are based on “medical condition, not on cannabis consumption.”

Neil Closner, CEO at MedReleaf, believes, just like Davidson, that while he doesn't have direct insight into the IDF's decision making process, it most likely has to do with Israel being at the "forefront" of this blossoming industry.

"Israel has always been at the forefront of the investigation of medical cannabis and we commend the IDF for making this historic decision," he says. "As research evidence continues to increase in this area, it is becoming more and more apparent that cannabis does indeed have positive benefits for patients with a number of health ailments, including PTSD. Here at MedReleaf, we have a number of patients with PTSD and they uniformly report significant improvement of their condition through the use of cannabis."

Closner also explains Israel's "instructive role" in the "reasonable regulation of medical cannabis," one that "other nations of the world should follow."

"We here in Canada are very fortunate that our federal government has taken note of the benefits of medical cannabis and the role that reasonable regulation can play in helping patients," Closner says. "Canada is now one of the leading jurisdictions in the world regarding cannabis usage for medical purposes and we hope that other countries will follow Canada’s example."

In partnering with Tikkun Olam, MedReleaf has derived numerous benefits, thanks to its reputation for high quality, and focus on new research initiatives. "Tikun Olam’s years of patient care results have served as the foundation of MedReleaf’s treatment protocols for Canadian patients and we feel that this places us 10 years ahead of the competition in terms of having a data-driven understanding of our varieties’ medicinal benefits. Our patients in Canada are benefited directly from Tikun Olam’s years of patient care experience."

Now, thanks to the IDF's "historic" decision, reserve soldiers will also be able to continue to benefit from medical marijuana facilities such as Tikkun Olam. As for allowing medical marijuana for non-reserve soldiers, the IDF has yet to approve such an initiative, though they are considering it.

Of course, it's not like the IDF is telling their soldiers it's ok for them to all get high whenever they want, especially when they're out there protecting the people of Israel. Thanks to Syqe Medical and its hand-held inhalers, reserve soldiers that actually use the drug for its medicinal benefits will be able to do so.

Currently, 20,000 Israelis have a prescription for medical marijuana. According to Israel's Health Ministry, approximately 50 new prescriptions for the drug are given out each week.