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Dear Stoner: I was recently celebrating Jewish New Year, and my family and I began wondering if cannabis can be kosher? What about edibles?
Joe
Dear Joe: Happy New Year! If you want to celebrate your next Rosh Hashanah with reefer and feel strongly about respecting your religion, there do appear to be some safety nets or loopholes. Keeping kosher means that no products or ingredients from non-kosher animals or other substances proscribed by Jewish law are used. In a vacuum, cannabis is just vegetation and so appears to qualify. But if you consider growing nutrients and cannabis product additives, then things might not be so kosher.
The answer also depends on the rabbi you ask. Although some rabbis still consider cannabis a forbidden substance, an influential rabbi once told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that smoking cannabis “isn’t not kosher,” while the Times of Israel reported that a rabbi proclaimed marijuana okay for medical reasons. Edibles, obviously, are another story, as they can contain cooking and diary products from animals that may not be kosher. There are several cannabis edible companies that claim to have kosher certification, but we’re not aware of any in Colorado. Easy answer: Make your own and keep things kosher.
Send questions to marijuana@westword.com.
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