Police raided the Tikkun Olam medical-marijuana dispensary on Ibn Gvirol Street in Tel Aviv on Wednesday 15 December 2010.[1][2] Tikkun Olam, a non-profit body, was the Health Ministry’s official grower and supplier of medical marijuana, serving about 85 percent of the 500 patients then permitted to use cannabis.[1]
Tel Aviv police had sent an undercover agent posing as a patient after suspecting staff of dispensing more than the prescribed quantities; the agent bought cannabis with a prescription several times, then asked for 10 grams above the prescribed amount.[1] Police detained the association chairman and two members for several hours of questioning before releasing them.[1]
Police suspected large amounts of marijuana had reached criminal groups through fake prescriptions, and said the dispensary had been dispensing more than the 30 grams a month allowed; officers linked the case to a year-long hashish shortage they believed was fed by diverted medical marijuana.[2] The dispensary stayed closed after the raid, and on Sunday dozens of disabled and terminally ill patients protested outside, waving their permits; Tikkun Olam set up a makeshift counter in the courtyard where patients medicated on the spot.[2] A spokesman, Shai Meir, said only patients suffered from the raids, and a protesting patient, Yedidya Kanuf, paralysed since a car crash, said prescription cannabis had given him his life back.[2]
