Against this, some popular writers[1] have argued that there is evidence for religious use of cannabis in the Hebrew Bible, although this hypothesis and some of the specific case studies (e.g., John Allegro in relation to Qumran, 1970) have been "widely dismissed as erroneous".
[7] In a 1973 opinion, Orthodox rabbi Moshe Feinstein stated that cannabis was not permitted under Jewish law, due to its harmful effects.
In 2016, Belarusian-Israeli rabbi Chaim Kanievsky declared that medicinal cannabis was kosher for Passover.
[12] In the United States, the Jewish Social Policy Action Network in Philadelphia and Rabbi Eric Cytrin of Temple Beth El in Harrisburg, have supported medical legalization efforts for cannabis in Pennsylvania.
[13] In December, 2023, the Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, a body related to Conservative Judaism, issued the first teshuva on cannabis use, finding "overwhelming halachic support" for medical cannabis, and some support for non-medical use as well.