The ‘father or cannabis research’ Raphael Mechoulam has passed away at the age of 92. Hebrew researcher Raphael Mechoulam was known widely as the ‘father of cannabis research’ due to his cannabinoid research done to isolate delta-9 THC, the psychoactive ingredient that makes cannabis so potent. Mechoulam also had many other achievements such as designing and synthesizing several novel cannabinoids with therapeutic potential as pharmaceutical drugs.
Hebrew University President Asher Cohen said in an interview, “Most of the human and scientific knowledge about cannabis was accumulated thanks to Prof. Mechoulam…He paved the way for groundbreaking studies and initiated scientific cooperation between researchers around the world.”
Mechoulam was nominated for many awards throughout his life including the Heincich Wieland Prize in 2004, an honorary doctorate from Complutense University in Madrid in 2006, and the Israel Prize in Exact Sciences, Chemistry, in 2000.
Mechoulam also was a founding member of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines and the International Cannabinoid Research Society. Mechoulam also had many other significant accomplishments throughout his life and contributed immensely to cannabis research. Without the father of cannabis research, society would be set back tremendously in the field of cannabis. Mechoulam moved to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and became a full-time professor in 1972 where he continued to work until his death this year.
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