Jews & Cannabis

In 2020 at an archaeological site in the Negev desert called Tel Arad archaeologists made a surprising discovery. Using new chemical analysis techniques, they examined burnt residues on a pair of limestone altars which turned out to be cannabis. Initially, many thought that this might mean our ancestors were stoners. 

However, there are a few things that are a bit off about the Tel Arad discovery. The Tel Arad sanctuary (where the cannabis residue was found) included large stone pillars, called massebot - which Leviticus specifically prohibits!

Also, it's interesting that they even had a sanctuary outside of Jerusalem during the time of the Temple - which contradicts our understanding of efforts to centralize worship in ancient Israel.

In the United States, the Jewish population is over-represented among the recreational cannabis using population. The reasons for this are thought to be their urban pattern of residence, the disproportionate association of Jewish residents in the academic milieu of the city as well as its avant-garde movements, and that Jewish families are thought to be less authoritarian and more tolerant toward "intellectual experimentation".

As with most Jewish issues, there are differing opinions as to whether and when cannabis is kosher.

According to Chabad: "Most narrowly defined, kosher means that it contains no ingredients that were from non-kosher animals, milk and meat" which means that if "the product in question contains just leaves and that there was no unkosher residue on the processing equipment, it would not need certification, like plain unflavored tea"

In a case when using cannabis is deemed medically necessary, that cannabis is allowed based on the Jewish principle of "Pikuach Nefesh" - preserving life.

If the medical cannabis is not deemed necessary and there are gels caps or something else in the edible that isn't kosher, then the normal rules apply and one would need to find out if that other ingredient is kosher.

This is only an issue if the cannabis is ingested. If smoked or injected, most kosher concerns would not apply. On Shabbat and holidays, smoking cannabis would be forbidden because lighting fires are prohibited. 

According to YIVO's Am Yisrael High exibit:

"More recently, Jews have been at the forefront of scientific research and medical applications of cannabis. Many Jews have also been deeply involved in the counterculture movement as well as the medical [cannabis] movement, both of which strove for legalization in different ways. Commercial aspects of the modern cannabis industry, from horticulture to distribution to paraphernalia, have also involved numerous Jewish business people."

• https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3189821/jewish/Is-Marijuana-Kosher.htm 

• https://www.heyalma.com/the-jewish-history-of-weed/ 

• https://www.tikunolam.com/about-us/ 

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_and_Judaism 

• https://yivo.org/Cannabis