Torah For Today! This week… Medical cannabis
Rabbi Ariel Abel takes a topical issue and delves into the Torah for Judaism's view on the issue
Rabbi Ariel Abel is based in Liverpool
Parliament is currently debating a Private Members’ Bill asking for the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes. So, what does the Torah say about this?
The Torah’s approach to herbal medicine is positive, although the risk of damage to health through addiction means that even use in moderation is questionable.
Before drinking a Kiddush cup, we declare ‘savri’, which means ‘exercise caution’. This is because not only is moderation required, but also knowing when to take benefit and when to abstain altogether.
Extreme pain suffered by patients is equated in scriptural and halachic sources to an existential threat to life itself.
When King Saul was in his death throes, he preferred to die rather than suffer extreme pain. Rabbinic sources do not criticise him for this.
In the early medieval period, Moses of Oxford applied the example of Saul before the assizes of the Sheriff of Gloucester to argue that suicide is not forbidden in Judaism if the pain is impossible to bear.
Nowadays, thank God, excellent standards of pain relief mean this argument is usually unnecessary. However, self-medication is just as perilous as non-medication. Only responsible, registered and accredited practitioners, who carefully observe the developing condition of one who uses cannabis should administer and track the provenance and dispensation of every drop and gram on the permitted market.
The Torah itself is compared to both the elixir of life or a death potion; it depends on the doses administered, when and to whom.
Current evidence indicates that cannabis oil is neither addictive, nor does
it contain the effects of other forms of cannabis. If this is so, the grounds on which one could object is the stigma attached to its use.
These grounds are irrelevant to Judaism, as what matters is relieving pain, not what non-sufferers declare for ideological reasons.
- Rabbi Ariel Abel serves Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation and is Padre to HM Armed Forces
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
