The CannaTech Conference was just held March 18-21, 2018, in Tel Aviv, Israel. The conference was about as comprehensive as a medical cannabis conference could be.
The most significant global industry leaders were there, and thought leaders led workshops in the fields of research and science, medicine, finance, technology innovation, agriculture and government policy–all with a singular focus on medical cannabis.
The event was an amazing showcase into the groundbreaking and very significant contributions in all of these fields.
Representatives from 40 different countries attended the not-so-traditional Cannatech conference experience. The event was designed to provide a wide-angle lens on the entire global industry. Participants assuredly left with increased knowledge from investment to international regulation.
Cannatech had a dizzying array of speakers in every possible field within the booming global industry. Attendees desiring a more in-depth look into a particular field could attend the Master Class series as a conference add-on.
The university-level courses were taught by industry giants and limited to 120 people per class.
Two master classes were offered. One was a Capital Investor master class for anyone interested in investment, finance and market strategy and intelligence.
It was taught by Ph.D. professors from Israel’s internationally acclaimed research centers.
Israel first started the CannaTech Conference in 2015. That year, there was a standing-room-only crowd to hear venture capitalists and angel investors, agricultural innovators, and medical doctors and researchers assembled to speak.
In three short years, Canna Tech has become the best known international cannabis gathering of its kind. Now, CannaTech is offered not only in Israel but other locations like London and Sydney at least twice a year. Israel is where it all started–the nation is well-known as the world leader in medical cannabis. Israeli cutting-edge medical and agricultural technology and research have led them to be the world’s foremost leader in cannabis innovation.
Cannabis business is booming. The industry is the fastest-growing industry worldwide. In Israel alone, the medical cannabis market has increased 70 percent since the first 2015 Canna Tech inaugural event. Worldwide, the cannabis market is estimated to have a $20 billion impact this year and forecasted to grow five-fold to $100 billion by 2020.
With such explosive growth, industry professionals rely on forums like CannaTech to stay current in the rapidly moving market.
Israel’s cannabis industry is successful because the government invests in it. The Israeli Ministry of Health is a staunch supporter of both the medical marijuana industry as well as the scientific research conducted by the world’s leading companies.
In 2015, the first year of CannaTech, nearly 25,000 Israeli patients were being treated across the small country, for everything from AIDS to epilepsy, and Tourette syndrome to multiple sclerosis (MS). The number of treated patients has steadily climbed ever since.
The government has made serious investments in cannabis research and production, and efforts are underway to establish an Israeli export market. Israel’s Agricultural Minister is leading the effort to export. Many Israeli companies are poised to be ready when it happens.
For example, Tikum Olam, a leading Israeli company, is working feverishly to obtain patents on its best cannabis strains. They are also entering into joint ventures with both Canadian and American companies.
Israel is not issue-free when it comes to medical cannabis, and there are undoubtedly staunch critics of the growing industry and the medical marijuana research efforts. The country still has fairly strict regulations that can make research very difficult.
However, the restrictions are loosening. Israel remains the world leader in cannabis agriculture, science, and technology–and they got that status from government participation. Government officials have come a long way in their thinking, and that has led to this overarching support.Even Jewish religious leaders have been known to say “we must take the morality out of marijuana.”
American companies see it and attended CannaTech 2018 in record numbers to bring the Israeli knowledge back to the U.S.
credit:420intel.com
