Moves are under way to harness the push by Israeli start-ups to revolutionise the cannabis industry.

A conference of 750 people, the International Summit for Accelerating Cannabis Innovation, will take place in Tel Aviv in March, with participants from America, Australia, the UK, Finland and elsewhere. It is being organised by iCAN, a new company established to boost cannabis innovation.

One of the company's founders is Clifton Flack who moved from London to Israel 10 years ago. For him, cannabis is "the most exciting industry I have seen".

He argues that while medical cannabis is becoming more accepted - this week, medical marijuana shops opened in Illinois - growers have remained underground. As a result, he said, cannabis farming has not been exposed to research and innovation.

Mr Flack is confident that research will lead to cannabis being grown faster, being processed more efficiently, and medical patients getting more out of the drug.

"Doctors will always struggle to prescribe a bag of grass," he said.

Asked how a 42-year-old, kippah-wearing father of four came to be involved in the cannabis industry, he said: "I love the expressions I get when I say I'm in this industry - people's perception is that it's a stoner drug, and they don't yet understand the industry and how it can help people."