Yakar
Israel's medical cannabis regulatory unit within the Ministry of Health.
Yakar is the unit within the Israeli Ministry of Health that regulates medical cannabis. It oversees licensing and the rules governing how products may be advertised.
Israel has run a licensed medical cannabis programme since the 1990s and is regarded as one of the leading centres of research in the field. Over the past decade the number of licensed patients has grown several times over.
A 2024 reform moved prescribing for most indications to the Israeli health funds, leaving PTSD and chronic pain with the unit. Researchers tracking the change noted a subsequent fall in active licences, attributing it to stricter selection rather than to reduced patient need.