Over 2000 Israelis added to incumbent database in November
After an unusual delay in releasing October 2022 data from the medical cannabis industry's monthly "snapshot" report, the Department of Health is moving forward and releasing data for November 2022 ( PDF ), according to which, during the month of November, more than 2000 Israelis were added to the database of cannabis licensees, up to 123013 patients, compared to 120908 the previous month.
In November, the trend change in the growth rate of the number of patients continued in the second half of 2022 compared to the first half of this year, which means that the figures are increasing again and approaching the figures of 2021 which have broke all records.
As can be seen in the graph above, this is a continuation of a trend change in the growth rate of the number of cannabis patients in Israel, which bottomed out in the first half of 2022 with a figure of only 500 to 1000 new patients per month. However, in the second half of the year, the growth rate appears to be around 2000 new patients per month, a figure closer to the 2021 rate, which was around 3000 new patients per month.
Of course, it is very likely that this increase will stop again in the coming months, in light of the police raid and the dismantling some “friendly” cannabis doctors who remained in the industry after the aforementioned dismissal of the executives. at the beginning of the year. As revealed today, the police suspect that at least 6 doctors, possibly more, as well as a medical rights exploitation company, have been engaged for many months in the licensing of medical cannabis to thousands of citizens, without medical justification and making about 17 million NIS.
Anyway, in line with the increase in the number of patients, the figure for the total patient entitlement to cannabis has also increased, having been around 4598 kg in October and already reached around 4665 kg in November. Of this figure, 4245 kg (approximately 91%) are eligible for inflorescences and 417 kg (approximately 9%) for oils ("extraction"). It should be noted that this is the first time in November that there has been a sharp drop in eligibility data for the oil, which means that flowering control in the legal cannabis market is only increase. It should also be remembered that the above data is the eligibility data and not the amount of cannabis actually distributed in pharmacies, which reaches about 80% use in the inflorescences and a few percent in the oil.
At the level of indications (diseases/problems) for which patients are entitled to a license: 65982 patients holding a license for the "chronic pain" section, i.e. approximately 55% of patients, in second position on the list, as d Usually, it's the incomprehensible section called “others”, which continues to climb, this time from 19138 in October to 20101 in November. As mentioned, the meaning of the "other" section is unclear and the Ministry of Health refuses to reveal what diseases/indications it includes and how it is that some people are licensed for it while others may suffer from the same problems on the "other" list do not know that they can also receive a license.
Also in the data, about 58000 of the patients in Israel in November 2022, or about 47% of them, which is really almost half of all patients in Israel, are between 21 and 45 years old. It is also a significant increase from the previous month in this age group. At the same time, approximately 42000 patients (approximately 34%) are between the ages of 46 and 65, approximately 21500 patients (approximately 18%) are 66 and older, and a few fractions of a few additional percentages are children and adolescents up to the age of 20, comprising mainly autism and epileptics.
26710 patients, or 21,7%, hold in November 2022 a license to purchase and possess 40 grams of cannabis per month. In second position, 26 patients are entitled to 574 grams per month, or 30%. In third position, 21,6% with 18,3 grams per month, 20% with a 17,8 grams license, 50% with 8,9 grams per month, 60% with 3,2 grams per month, 70% with 2,8 grams per month, etc. About 80% of patients are entitled to more than 5 grams of cannabis per month.
