Israel develops revolutionary medical marijuana inhaler

(ISRAEL21c)—A first-in-class pocket-sized metered-dose cannabis inhaler helps patients and doctors control, monitor and fine-tune dosages. As medical marijuana debates heat up across the globe, a government-backed Israeli startup has developed the first device of its kind to administer cannabis as a pharmaceutical.

Unlike the current methods—smoking joints, imbibing oil, rubbing in a salve or eating laced brownies—this medical device enables the patient to inhale metered doses of vaporized cannabis granules.

The Syqe Inhaler is the brainchild of Perry Davidson, an entrepreneur who was instrumental in launching the Israeli Health Ministry’s Medical Cannabis Program in 2007, for the treatment of chronic nausea, pain and other conditions. Some 20,000 Israelis today take doctor-prescribed cannabis, and Israel is at the forefront of research and development in this field.

Pilot testing of the inhaler will start in hospitals around the country by the end of 2014. A home version of the device is expected to go on the market sometime in 2015.

Davidson formed Syqe Medical —a homophone of the word “psyche”—to tackle some of the problems surrounding the use of this controlled substance as a mainstream drug. He sought a scientific way to separate marijuana’s stigma as an illicit recreational drug from its proven health benefits.

For complete article go to Israel21c.org