On August 20, 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the State Drug Policy Strategy through 2030. The document refers to Chapter 24 of the EU accession negotiations and the EU Drugs Strategy 2021-2025 and declares a shift from a punitive criminal justice approach to administrative, educational, medical, psychosocial, and preventive services.
The list of objectives includes introducing alternatives to criminal punishment, expanding access to medical and social services, harm reduction programs, and changing attitudes toward people with substance use disorders. The Strategy, however, outlines a direction rather than specific steps. It still needs to be supplemented by amendments to laws and secondary legislation. The details of these changes are discussed below.
Drug policy reform is important for Ukraine not only in its own right but also as part of the country’s European integration commitments. Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) is one of the largest negotiating chapters, encompassing numerous legal acts that a candidate country must implement. It covers criminal law, combating organized crime, the regulation of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and the monitoring of new psychoactive substances. As a candidate country, Ukraine will be required to align its legislation with the acquis communautaire — the body of EU legislation in force in this area.
Part of the EU drug policy is jointly regulated across all Member States. This concerns combating drug trafficking (Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA), monitoring new psychoactive substances (through the European Union Drugs Agency, EUDA), and regulating cannabidiol (CBD) as a food product (under the Novel Food Regulation). Ukraine will be required to implement this legislation before or during accession to the European Union. Other areas, including the decriminalization of personal use and limits on permissible potency (the concentration of the narcotic substance in a product), are regulated independently by each country in accordance with best practices among EU Member States.
At the same time, in light of European experience from 2020 to 2026, as summarized in EUDA‘s annual reports, it is important to bear in mind that the regulatory choices made on each of the issues discussed below have significant and long-term consequences for public health and criminal justice.
The new EU Drugs Strategy and the Action Plan against Drug Trafficking serve as the main reference points here. The European Commission published them in December 2025, and they are already in force as the EU’s framework documents in this area.
Ukraine’s Strategy 2030 reflects an intention to change the regulatory approach, but the regulatory decisions themselves still lie ahead. Below, we examine five issues that will need to be incorporated into domestic legislation in the near future.
Ukraine’s current drug control regime
The handling of narcotic drugs in Ukraine is regulated by Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (on the illegal trafficking and distribution of drugs), Article 44 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (which establishes penalties for the production, storage, and transportation of small quantities of drugs without intent to sell), and an order of the Ministry of Health that clarifies what constitutes large and small quantities of various narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
The Law on Medical Cannabis, adopted in 2023, does not regulate potency (the concentration of the main psychoactive substance, tetrahydrocannabinol, in a product), while product forms are regulated through a closed list established by the Ministry of Health. Only drops, capsules, pastes, and gels are permitted, while all other forms remain outside the legal framework.
In April 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers removed cannabidiol (CBD) isolate, which does not have psychoactive effects but may relieve pain and improve sleep, from the list of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, but introduced no safety requirements — no mandatory composition testing, content limits, quality control, or labeling standards. The 2023 Law on Medical Cannabis does not close this gap: it regulates only prescription cannabis-based medicines, not CBD products sold over the counter.
Decriminalization vs legalization
These terms are often confused in public debate. Decriminalization means that personal use remains illegal but is punished with an administrative fine rather than under criminal law. This is the approach used by Portugal since 2001, the Czech Republic since 2010, and Germany since 2024.
Legalization means creating a legal market — licensed production, sale, and consumption under regulated conditions. This is the model used by Canada and Uruguay. Within the EU, the Netherlands is conducting limited experiments, while Malta and Germany have introduced a social-club model of legalization.
None of the five decisions discussed below involves creating a legal recreational cannabis market in Ukraine. Rather, they concern the decriminalization of personal use, the infrastructure required to support already legalized medical cannabis products, the regulation of potency, the monitoring of new psychoactive substances, and the safety regulation of CBD products.
Issue 1. Decriminalization of personal use
Under Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the illegal production, acquisition, storage, transportation, or transfer of narcotic drugs without intent to sell is punishable by a fine, correctional labor, restriction of liberty, or imprisonment. The threshold between administrative and criminal liability for cannabis is 5 grams. Strategy 2030 envisions a shift away from this punitive criminal justice approach toward a medical and preventive one. However, the criminal framework remains in force for now, and the declared intention has yet to be implemented through amendments to the Criminal Code. In 2024 alone, 10,783 people were convicted under Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — more than in 2021 (7,145 people).
Since 2001, Portugal has treated personal use of all drugs as an administrative offense. The threshold for “personal consumption” is a ten-day supply (for cannabis, this means 25 grams of dried flower and 5 grams of hashish). When police find such an amount in a person’s possession, the case does not go to court but to the Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction (CDT) — an administrative body composed of a lawyer, a physician, and a social worker. As a result, the share of the population that has used cannabis (lifetime prevalence) stabilized at 9-12%, below the EU average of 15.1%.
The Czech Republic does not impose criminal liability for possession of a “small amount” of cannabis (up to 10 grams). As of January 1, 2026, home cultivation of up to 3 plants has been legalized for persons over 21. Germany decriminalized possession of 25 grams of cannabis in public and 50 grams at home as of April 1, 2024, and granted amnesty to those previously punished for this offense.
Ukrainian legislation on this issue remains essentially unchanged from its 2001 version. The 2023 Law on Medical Cannabis did not alter the punitive criminal justice framework for recreational use — it regulates only medical use.
Decision. Currently, the threshold between administrative and criminal liability for cannabis is 5 grams: anything above this amount results in criminal prosecution under Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This threshold, set out in Ministry of Health Order No. 188, should be raised so that possession for personal use of larger, but still non-commercial, quantities falls under administrative rather than criminal liability, as has been done in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Portugal. An amnesty should also be introduced for persons convicted under Part 1 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for quantities that, under the new rules, would no longer constitute a criminal offense, as Germany has done. This would require amendments to the Criminal Code.
Issue 2. Infrastructure for medical cannabis
Ukraine’s cannabis legalization law permits the use of cannabis for medical, industrial, scientific, and research purposes. Resolution No. 1123 of the Cabinet of Ministers, dated September 30, 2024, established licensing requirements for producers, importers, pharmacies, and healthcare institutions. The Ministry of Health approved four permitted product forms (oral drops, solid capsules, dental pastes, and gels), a list of indications (chronic and neuropathic pain, spasticity, epilepsy, and certain oncological and palliative conditions), and the procedure for issuing electronic prescriptions through the Electronic Healthcare System (eHealth).
Before the full-scale invasion, 2.3 million patients in Ukraine required cannabis-based medicines, and with the onset of the war, this figure increased to 5.5-6 million. In early January 2025, the first medical cannabis product was registered in Ukraine — oral drops produced by a Spanish manufacturer. As of the end of 2025, six cannabis-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (that is, the raw materials used to manufacture finished medicinal products) were listed in the State Register of Medicinal Products, and another 18 were undergoing registration. At the end of 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved quotas for the cultivation and use of cannabis in Ukraine. From the first quarter of 2026, these medicines became available in licensed pharmacies, although patients must purchase them at their own expense.
In 2017, Germany made medical cannabis part of its mandatory health insurance system (§31 of the Social Code, SGB V), while the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) established a separate Cannabis Agency. This government agency licenses producers and regulates supply. The 2024 reform removed medical cannabis from the scope of the Narcotic Drugs Act (BtMG). Since 2017, it has been available by prescription and covered by insurance, while since 2024, it has no longer been considered a narcotic drug in the legal sense, which has simplified prescribing. As a result, imports of medical cannabis products increased fourfold — from 19 tonnes in 2023 to approximately 80 tonnes in 2024 — largely due to telemedicine platforms. These platforms issue prescriptions remotely and with almost no restrictions, which is why the German government is currently preparing restrictive amendments to limit this channel.
The largest producers of medical cannabis are Canada (almost 30% of global production) and the United Kingdom (almost 20%). Israel ranks third with 11.5%. The largest exporters of this product are Canada, the United Kingdom, and Portugal. Germany is the largest importer of medical cannabis. It is followed by the United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal, and Israel, suggesting that the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Israel do not cultivate cannabis themselves but instead process imported raw materials.
Since 2020, the Czech Republic has covered 90% of the cost of medical cannabis through the public health insurance system. In the Netherlands, medical cannabis is partially covered by basic health insurance, while the state Bureau voor Medicinale Cannabis manages supply through a single producer, Bedrocan, and exports cannabis to other EU countries.
The 2023 law created the legal basis for medical cannabis in Ukraine, but not the logistics required for its implementation. Without a targeted reimbursement program through the National Health Service of Ukraine, imported medicines remain financially inaccessible to most patients. Without accelerated registration of new substances, the available range effectively consists of only one or two products. As a result, the declared access to treatment exists largely on paper.
Decision. Cannabis-based medicines should be added to the National List of Essential Medicines and to the reimbursement program of the National Health Service of Ukraine for approved indications. Priority should be given to patients with conditions such as spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain, cancer pain, and pharmacoresistant epilepsy. In addition, an accelerated registration procedure should be introduced for medicines already registered in countries with recognized pharmaceutical quality systems (the EU, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland) and manufactured in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
Issue 3. Potency and product forms
At present, recreational cannabis use is completely prohibited in Ukraine — the 2023 law stipulates that the sale of cannabis containing any amount of THC for recreational use is prohibited. The issue of potency (the concentration of psychoactive THC in a product) in medical products is decided by the physician, who determines the dosage. The recreational market, however, is a separate issue. Decriminalization of personal use does not create a recreational market — use remains an offense, only an administrative rather than a criminal one. However, the experience of European countries that have stopped at decriminalization shows that sooner or later, the question will arise of what to do about the de facto illegal market and whether to regulate it. If Ukraine ever moves in this direction, potency will become a key topic of discussion. It is better to establish such limits in advance rather than try to catch up with the problem later.
For example, Germany, in Section 19(3) of the Cannabis Act (KCanG), limited the THC content of cannabis distributed to persons aged 18-21 to 10%. This is currently the only example in the EU of a statutory potency threshold. The Netherlands considered introducing such a rule but ultimately did not adopt it. Outside the EU, similar limits exist in the Canadian province of Quebec and in several U.S. states. The average potency of dried cannabis flower in Germany in 2024 was 14.8%, while cannabis resin averaged 26%. Thus, the 10% limit for younger adults excludes most of the products actually available on the market. Cultivation clubs (Anbauvereinigungen) may provide members only with dried flowers and seeds. They may not distribute concentrates, solvent-based extracts, or edible products where THC concentrations are higher and less predictable.
The clinical rationale for regulating potency is set out in the review by Petrilli et al. published in The Lancet Psychiatry (2022), which found an association between cannabis potency and cannabis use disorders, as well as first psychotic episodes. The EU-GEI study (Di Forti et al., The Lancet Psychiatry, 2019) showed that up to half (50.3%) of first psychotic episodes in Amsterdam were associated with the regular use of high-potency cannabis strains (THC ≥10%), which are freely available in Dutch coffeeshops. This is an epidemiological estimate of the proportion of cases that could have been avoided in the absence of such strains on the market. The EU-GEI study covered eleven cities across Europe (including the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and others); on average, the figure across these cities was 12%, while Amsterdam had the highest rate precisely because of the prevalence of high-potency strains.
In 2011, the Dutch Trimbos Institute proposed classifying cannabis with THC ≥15% as a hard drug. The proposal was not adopted, and the potency of Dutch cannabis strains has since resumed its upward trend. According to the THC Monitor (a Trimbos Institute program under which researchers purchase cannabis annually from Dutch coffeeshops and measure THC content), the average THC concentration in the most popular strains increased from 13.8% in 2024 to 15.6% in 2025.
For Ukraine, this means that any future easing of access to cannabis should avoid repeating the mistake of the open markets of the 2000s, when potency remained unregulated for years, and the consequences for mental health had to be dealt with later.
Decision. The 2023 law should be amended to include THC thresholds for different product forms and patient groups. Concentrates and edible products should also be prohibited outside specialized medical settings, as in Germany.
Issue 4. New psychoactive substances and synthetics
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are synthetic and semi-synthetic compounds that mimic the effects of traditional drugs but are not covered by existing control lists. A separate category consists of semi-synthetic cannabinoids (HHC, THC-P, HHC-P), which emerged to circumvent regulations governing traditional cannabis and are marketed, including in Ukraine, in the form of “legal” vapes, oils, and edible products, since not all of them are included in the national list of controlled substances.
In the EU, this area is regulated by Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA — the basic legal act establishing minimum standards for the criminalization of drug trafficking. Since 2017, the Framework Decision has included a mechanism for the rapid addition of new substances to the list of narcotic drugs through delegated directives of the European Commission. Once a substance is added to the list, all restrictions applicable to controlled substances apply to it: its production, sale, and possession become subject to criminal penalties in all Member States. For example, in 2026, the EU added 2-MMC, 4-BMC, and NEP to its list of narcotic drugs, and from that moment their production, sale, and possession automatically became criminal offenses in all Member States. Ukraine’s List No. 770 currently includes only one of these three substances — 4-BMC. Neither 2-MMC nor NEP has been included in the List and therefore is not formally subject to control. This is a consequence of the procedure for amending the List being slow and not synchronized with the European Early Warning System.
The Early Warning System is one of the tools of the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA), which is responsible for monitoring and risk assessment. When a new psychoactive substance appears in one of the Member States, information about it is immediately shared with the other EU countries, which have fixed deadlines for risk assessment and national responses. According to the European Drug Report 2025, 277 synthetic cannabinoids are currently monitored within this system.
Ukraine’s List of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, and Precursors is not synchronized with the EU Early Warning System.
Decision. As part of fulfilling its obligations as a candidate country, Ukraine will have to join the EUDA Early Warning System and develop an institutional partnership with the Agency.
Issue 5. CBD and food supplements
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive substance found in cannabis that has documented biological activity (it is, in particular, the active ingredient in Epidiolex, a medicine approved for certain forms of epilepsy).
In the EU, CBD is regulated as a Novel Food. In Case C-663/18, decided on November 19, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that CBD is not a narcotic drug within the meaning of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and is therefore subject to the principle of the free movement of goods under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. As of April 2026, more than 200 applications for the authorization of CBD as a Novel Food have been submitted to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). However, because there is insufficient evidence regarding the safety of CBD for the liver, the reproductive system, and the placenta, EFSA has restricted its use: such products may be consumed only by persons over 25 and in amounts not exceeding 2 mg per day.
In 2021, Ukraine removed cannabidiol from the list of narcotic drugs, but did not introduce any control measures governing it. As a result, CBD-containing products (oils, gummies, lemonades, and cosmetics) remain in a regulatory “gray zone”: they are not prohibited, are freely sold and purchased, but are not subject to any state requirements regarding their composition, dosage, purchaser age, or safety.
Decision. Ukraine should introduce a legislative framework for Novel Foods in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. The framework should provide for the mandatory registration of CBD products, limits on daily intake in line with EFSA recommendations, and a ban on sales to persons under the age of 25, as recommended by EFSA, since the safety of CBD for younger age groups has not been established owing to the incomplete development of their nervous systems.
Accordingly, as part of its path toward EU membership, Ukraine should also adopt European approaches to cannabis regulation: on the one hand, decriminalizing personal use in small quantities, and on the other hand, introducing restrictions — such as age limits and limits on the concentration of active substances — for medical and recreational use.