BGU-RADAR Center and US universities chart roadmap for medical cannabis education and clinical practice

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, October 8, 2025 – The use of medical cannabis is rapidly expanding worldwide, yet many healthcare providers and trainees still feel unprepared to counsel patients or recommend treatment when appropriate. 

A new publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open —“Developing Medical Cannabis Competencies: A Consensus Statement” — lays out the essential knowledge and skills physicians need to integrate medical cannabis into clinical practice responsibly. 

The consensus statement was co-authored by Dr. Yuval Zolotov and Prof. (Emeritus) Richard Isralowitz, director of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research (RADAR) Center, together with leading experts from top U.S. universities. 

The RADAR Center has long been at the forefront of research and education on medical cannabis. Last year, it presented its findings on “Medical Cannabis in Professional Healthcare Education: Multinational Policies, Perspectives, and Competencies” at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-International Forum in Montreal. For more than 30 years, the Center has collaborated with both NIDA and the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). 

With generous support from BGU donors, including the late Dr. Mort and Dr. Toby Mower, the Center launched a multi-national study in 2018 on medical cannabis attitudes, beliefs, and competencies among healthcare professionals. This research covered 18 medical conditions recognized for medical cannabis use, such as chronic pain, nausea, insomnia, inflammatory bowel disease, and neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. 

The RADAR Center’s international collaborations have earned recognition for their “outstanding contributions to scientific diplomacy” in advancing mental health and substance misuse prevention worldwide. 

Additional researchers from a number of leading US institutions were also signatories on the Consensus Statement including: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, University of Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Northwestern University.