Addictions and drugs in Israel after October 7

A Crisis Accelerating — A Growing Threat**

Trauma, Medication, and the Silent Transformation of a National Crisis

In Israel, addiction is no longer a marginal issue. It has become a major public-health challenge. The most recent data — from the Israel Center for Addiction and Mental Health (ICAMH), alongside academic and parliamentary surveys — reveal a deep transformation in patterns of use, amplified by the trauma of October 7, 2023 and the war that followed.

Between 2022 and 2025, Israel’s addiction landscape shifts in nature : less centered on classic illicit drugs, more dominated by psychoactive prescription medications, prescribed opioids, sedatives — and a sharp rise in behavioral addictions (internet, social media, gaming).

1. A Country Under Pressure: The 2022–2025 Context

Between April 2022 and February 2025, three waves of national surveys by ICAMH measured the impact of war and collective trauma on substance use.

The results leave little room for doubt:

• More than 15% of adults present problematic use of at least one substance or addictive behavior.
  • The sharpest increases occur between 2022 and late 2023, immediately after the October 7 attacks.
  • PTSD, depression, and anxiety climb to historically high levels — and have not returned to pre-war levels.

In short: the war did not create addictions — it amplified them.
It intensified use among existing consumers and generated new ones, both among soldiers and those returning from combat. PTSD symptoms have multiplied. Anxiety has become commonplace in families with sons or daughters of mobilization age.

2. The Most-Used Substances: Alcohol, Cannabis… and Then Medication

Alcohol and cannabis stay on top

Alcohol remains the most widely used substance, followed by cannabis:

• 70% of adults report having consumed alcohol,
  • 23% report lifetime cannabis use,
  • 10% used cannabis in the month preceding October 7.

These levels mirror those seen in the heaviest-consuming Western countries.

The major shift: psychoactive prescription drugs

The most significant evolution is no longer in illegal drugs but in prescribed substances:

• Sedatives (benzodiazepines): continuous rise in problematic use, with no return to baseline in 2025.
  • Prescribed opioids: marked increase after the start of hostilities, extending a trend now more than a decade old.

According to analyses from the Taub Center, Israel reached around 2020 the highest per-capita use of prescribed opioids in the world, ahead of the U.S. and Canada.

This “silent epidemic” continues to spread — largely under the radar of Israeli public awareness.

3. Behavioral Addictions: The October 7 Spike

Problematic behaviors related to:

• social media,
  • online gambling,
  • video gaming,
  • pornography,
  • compulsive sexual behavior,

all experienced a sudden spike immediately after October 7.

These behaviors gradually declined through 2024, but some — notably excessive internet use — remain significantly above pre-war levels.

4. Youth and Adolescents: A Red-Alert Signal

A Knesset Research Center report on students from 5th to 12th grade is unequivocal:

• 9.5% report being drunk in the past month,
  • 6.3% used cannabis in the same period,
  • 18.5% of high-school students used opioid painkillers without a prescription at least once in the year.

Every year, nearly 1,000 teenagers receive social-services support for psychoactive-substance addiction.

In other words: opioid medication is becoming the new drug of Israeli teenagers, far ahead of more visible substances.

For these reasons, young people are the most vulnerable — and the most affected.

5. The Most Exposed Groups

Research highlights several high-risk populations:

Young adults (18–34)

Highest rates of problematic use, anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD.

Men

More affected than women by behavioral addictions (pornography, gaming, gambling) and cannabis use.

Secular and traditional population

Higher cannabis use, more depression and PTSD.

Ultra-Orthodox population

Higher use of sedatives and prescribed tranquilizers, often normalized within strict community frameworks.

6. A Mental-Health System Under Strain

The shockwave triggered by October 7 produced an explosion of psychological symptoms:

• sharp rise in PTSD,
  • increasing anxiety disorders,
  • growing depression.

Data from health funds, particularly Maccabi, show a dramatic increase:

• +307% in PTSD diagnoses among children and adolescents between 2016–2022 and 2023–2024.

This collective trauma forms fertile ground for self-medication and addiction.
It compounds prior disturbances caused by heavy social-media exposure, television, and the massive surge of fake news — which further intensifies anxiety and drives medication or drug use.

7. A Fragmented Treatment System

Israel suffers from a deeply fragmented care network that remains unresolved today. This division weakens the effectiveness of treatment and makes access more difficult.

• Health funds manage routine mental-health care,
  • The Ministry of Health oversees addiction clinics,
  • The Ministry of Social Affairs handles the most severe cases.

Result:
A patchwork of services, poor coordination, long delays, and patients bounced from one agency to another.

ICAMH researchers fear a scenario tragically familiar from other conflict-affected countries:
a long-term normalization of high anxiety, PTSD, and substance abuse.

Risk factors — insecurity, grief, frequent funerals, war threats — have not disappeared.
They have settled in.

Conclusion: A Silent Crisis Becoming Visible — and Entrenched

Addiction in Israel is no longer a marginal sociological issue. It is a powerful indicator:

• of collective trauma,
  • of social fractures,
  • of psychological vulnerability in a society under pressure,
  • and of a healthcare system overwhelmed.

The trends observed from 2022 to 2025 point to a long-term challenge:
preventing an “American-style” opioid crisis while treating a deeply traumatized population.

Five Key Numbers

• +15% of adults show problematic substance use or addictive behavior.
  • 1 in 4 Israelis increased drug or medication use after October 7.
  • World’s #1 per-capita consumer of prescribed opioids around 2020.
  • 18.5% of high-schoolers use opioids without prescription.
  • +307% PTSD diagnoses among children and teens in 2023–2024.
  • Rough estimate: around 400,000 Israelis fall into the category of heavy substance or drug users.

Drug-Use Penalties in Israel — Summary

1. Personal Use

• Drug use and possession remain illegal.
  • Maximum theoretical penalty: up to 3 years in prison.
  • Cannabis has a softer regime:
  o 1st public offense: fine (approx. 1,000 NIS).
  o Repeat offenses: higher fines, then possible criminal prosecution.

2. Trafficking, Production, Import/Export

• Very heavy penalties: up to 20 years in prison depending on severity.

3. Alternatives to Prison

• Courts may replace imprisonment with a treatment program, if the user agrees and a treatment center is available.

4. Special Cases

• Armed forces personnel, minors, and drivers under influence may face specific sanctions.
  • Cannabis is not legalized — only partially decriminalized in limited situations.

**Israel faces enemies outside its borders —

but today it also faces a devastating threat from within.
Action must be swift and decisive. No customers, no suppliers.