Ukraine Officials Approve Country’s First-Ever Permit To Import Medical Marijuana Products
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After approving Ukraine’s initial medical marijuana products earlier this year, national officials announced this week that they’ve granted the first-ever license allowing for imports of cannabis into the country, which legalized medical marijuana last year largely in response to the ongoing war with Russia.
“On June 2, 2025, the State Medical Service issued the first permit for the right to import medical cannabis substances into the territory of Ukraine,” the State Service of Ukraine on Medicine and Drugs Control said in a statement on Tuesday, according to a translation. “The permit was issued for a substance that is registered in Ukraine and entered into the State Register of Medicinal Products of Ukraine.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the country’s medical cannabis legislation into law last February.
The legal change officially took effect last summer, but the government spent months working through approvals and registrations to make the medicine available.
As of earlier this year, oral cannabis drops, developed in Spain, were the first in a series of products anticipated to be registered for use. Officials in 2023 also approved cannabis capsules, dental pastes and gels as eligible to go through the registration process.
The permit to import medical marijuana will help expand the program by opening the door to what could eventually become a broad international supply of products from Europe, North America and other legal cannabis regions.
The law as written legalized 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 three years ago.
While the text of the legislation as introduced listed only cancer and war-related PTSD as qualifying conditions, the chair of the health committee said in July that lawmakers were hearing daily from patients with other illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy.
Lawmakers approved the medical cannabis legislation in late 2023, 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 last 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.
Officials last August moved to clarify the scope of the new program.
“Cannabis, its resin, extracts and tinctures are excluded from the list of particularly dangerous substances,” the Ministry of Health said in an announcement at the time. “Previously, their circulation was prohibited—now it is allowed, but with certain restrictions.”
The Agrarian Policy Ministry holds regulatory responsibilities over cannabis cultivation and processing operations. The National Police and State Agency on Medicines also holds oversight and enforcement authorities related to the distribution of the medicine.
Zelensky, for his part, voiced support for medical marijuana legalization in mid-2023, 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.
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.
Earlier this year, Russia arrested and then later freed a 28-year-old American citizen who was facing charges over alleged possession of cannabis after authorities reportedly found cannabis products in his luggage at a Moscow airport.
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