Budding market: Lucrative cannabis industry looks to leverage ex-politicians’ sway
Increasing numbers of former leaders and security chiefs find new careers in the country’s tightly controlled cannabis industry, which hopes to use influence to change laws
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Not too long ago, Ehud Olmert was trying to lead Israel to a historic peace agreement. These days, the former Israeli prime minister is pushing a different message: Legalize marijuana. Olmert is among a group of former Israeli leaders and security chiefs who have found new careers in the country’s tightly controlled medical cannabis industry. They hope not only to cash in on the local market, but also to clear the way for the country’s major marijuana producers to export. “Everything will change dramatically overnight if there will be legalization,” Olmert, an adviser to the startup Univo, said. In Israel alone, he said, “the market would be unlimited. It would be huge.” Israel is one of the world leaders in medical cannabis consumption and marijuana possession is decriminalized.
