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Ukraine’s Ministry of Health has announced that the country’s medical cannabis program is officially operational, with the first prescribed products being purchased by a handful of patients on Thursday.
The THC capsules were dispensed at a pharmacy in the city of Vinnytsia to two veterans suffering from chronic neuropathic pain and phantom limb pain following amputation and a woman with multiple sclerosis.
Officials said that medical cannabis-based medicines are now available for purchase at six pharmacies belonging to a single licensed entity in Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi—with about 17 more pharmacies expected to launch sales soon.
The State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs Control said that “patients living with severe pain daily and requiring modern treatments now have an additional option to access modern pharmacotherapy.”
“The manufacture and dispensing of medical cannabis-based medicines may be carried out by business entities holding licenses for the production, wholesale and retail trade and import of medicinal products (except for active pharmaceutical ingredients), as well as a license for activities involving narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursors,” the health ministry said. “In addition to the license, to compound such medicines in a pharmacy, business entities must also obtain a quota.”
About 36 public and 30 private entities hold the relevant cannabis-related licenses across 180 practice locations, the government said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Ukraine’s medical cannabis legalization legislation into law in 2024, shortly after lawmakers approved the measure. About a year ago, officials granted the first-ever license allowing for imports of cannabis into the country.
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.
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.
The Ministry of Health has since approved conditions such as chronic or neuropathic pain, spasticity, for nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy in cancer treatment and Parkinson’s disease, among others.
Lawmakers first 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, 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 in 2024 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.
Zelensky also spoke in support of medical cannabis legalization during his presidential campaign, 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.
WNBA player Brittney Griner served time in a Russian prison over possession of cannabis oil that she also lawfully obtained as a medical marijuana patient in Arizona before being released as part of an earlier prisoner swap that the Biden administration negotiated.
In 2025, 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.
Tom Angell is the editor of Marijuana Moment. A 25-year veteran in the cannabis and drug law reform movement, he covers the policy, politics, science and culture of marijuana, psychedelics and other substances. He previously reported for Forbes, Marijuana.com and MassRoots, and was given the Hunter S. Thompson Media Award by NORML and has been named Journalist of the Year by Americans for Safe Access. As an activist, Tom founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority and handled media relations, campaigns and lobbying for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
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