Ukraine Medical Marijuana Legalization Law Officially Takes Effect Amid Ongoing Russian Conflict

Medical marijuana legalization has officially taken effect in Ukraine as of Friday.

About six months after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the medical cannabis legislation into law, the policy change is now being implemented. The president and other officials have said access to medical cannabis can help soldiers address physical and mental wounds incurred during the nation’s ongoing war with Russia.

“Cannabis, its resin, extracts and tinctures are excluded from the list of particularly dangerous substances,” the Ministry of Health said in an update on the new policy. “Previously, their circulation was prohibited—now it is allowed, but with certain restrictions.”

“In order to ensure the cultivation of medical cannabis in Ukraine, licensing conditions have been developed, which will soon be considered by the Cabinet of Ministers,” it said. “Also, the entire chain of circulation of medical cannabis, from import or cultivation to dispensing to a patient in a pharmacy, will be subject to license control.”

“We will remind you that the law refers only to the medical, not recreational, use of cannabis-based drugs.”

“This is a significant step forward in providing care to patients who need specific treatment,” the ministry added in a Facebook post.

As the country has prepared for this rollout, it’s also been able to start importing marijuana products since cannabis was moved from the List I to List II of the country’s drug code, making it available for medical use with a prescription.

Lawmakers approved the medical cannabis legislation last December, but the opposition Batkivshchyna party used a procedural tactic to block it by forcing consideration of a resolution to repeal the measure. That resolution failed in January, clearing its path to enactment.

Opponents previously tried to derail the marijuana bill by filing hundreds of what critics called “spam” amendments, but that attempt similarly failed, with the measure ultimately passing with 248 votes.

The law that’s taking effect will legalize medical cannabis for patients with severe illnesses and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from the nation’s ongoing conflict with Russia, which launched an invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.

While the text of the legislation as introduced only explicitly lists cancer and war-borne PTSD as conditions for which medical cannabis could be dispensed to patients, the chair of the health committee said in July that lawmakers hear daily from patients with other illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy.

The Agrarian Policy Ministry will hold regulatory responsibilities over cannabis cultivation and processing operations. The National Police and State Agency on Medicines will also hold oversight and enforcement authorities related to the distribution of the medicine.

“Ukrainian patients first get access to imported medicines. Where the first medicines will come from depends on foreign manufacturers who have the necessary quality documents and will pass the registration stage, Olha Stefanishyna, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, said in an interview. “Cultivation of medical cannabis in Ukraine will be available later.”

Stefanishyna, who also serves on the legislature’s National Health, Medical Care and Medical Insurance Committee, said that the list of approved medical conditions for which patients can access cannabis “should be published in the coming days.”

“We are working on expanding it, at least to the same list as, for example, in Germany, so that as many patients as possible who need the necessary drugs can get access to them,” she said.

Zelensky, for his part, voiced support for medical marijuana legalization last June, stating in an address to the parliament that “all the world’s best practices, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied in Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war.”

“In particular, we must finally fairly legalize cannabis-based medicines for all those who need them, with appropriate scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production,” he said.

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During his presidential campaign, Zelensky also voiced support for medical cannabis legalization, saying in 2019 that he feels it would be “normal” to allow people to access cannabis “droplets,” which is possibly a reference to marijuana tinctures.

The policy change puts Ukraine is stark contrast to its long-time aggressor Russia, which has taken a particularly strong stance against reforming cannabis policy at the international level through the United Nations. The country has condemned Canada for legalizing marijuana nationwide, for example.

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