🇧🇬 Medical cannabis in Bulgaria

E — cannabinoid medicines only, no cannabis programme. Bulgarian law divides controlled substances into Списък I (high-risk, 'забранени за приложение в хуманната и ветеринарната медицина'), Списък II (high-risk but used in medicine) and Списък III (risk substances); cannabis is treated as a List I plant, so no medical cannabis programme exists.

ЗКНВП чл. 3, ал. 2: 'Списък I – Растения и вещества с висока степен на риск за общественото здраве поради вредния ефект от злоупотребата с тях, забранени за приложение в хуманната и ветеринарната медицина; Списък II – Вещества с висока степен на риск, намиращи приложение в хуманната и ветеринарната медицина; Списък III – Рискови вещества.' The lists themselves are set 'с наредба, приета от Министерския съвет' (Наредба за реда за класифициране на растенията и веществата като наркотични), which could not be opened in this session; the placement of cannabis and THC in Списък I is therefore stated from the law's structure and general knowledge, not quoted. Чл. 30 prohibits production, processing, trade, storage, import and export of List I plants, substances and preparations; чл. 31: 'Забраната по чл. 27, 28 и 30 не се отнася за ограничени количества, предвидени в този закон, за медицински, научни и лабораторни изследвания и образователни цели.' Medicinal products containing List II and III substances are produced and traded under licences (чл. 32–33).

Source: Закон за контрол върху наркотичните вещества и прекурсорите (Law on Control of Narcotic Substances and Precursors) — lex.bg · read 27 September 2026

No cannabis flower, extract or magistral preparation may be prescribed. Epidyolex (cannabidiol), an EU centrally authorised medicine, is legally available; whether nabiximols (Sativex) or dronabinol hold a Bulgarian authorisation could not be confirmed from the ИАЛ (Изпълнителна агенция по лекарствата, Bulgarian Drug Agency) registers, which are published as downloadable Excel files.

Epidyolex: EU central marketing authorisation 19 September 2019 (Jazz Pharmaceuticals Ireland Ltd) for seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex from age 2; valid in all Member States including Bulgaria. The ИАЛ publishes a national register (August 2026), an EU-register of centrally authorised products (August 2026) and a parallel-import register (September 2026) as Excel downloads; no separate register of narcotic-containing medicines exists. Bulgarian stocking/reimbursement of Epidyolex not published on pages opened.

Source: ИАЛ (Bulgarian Drug Agency) — Регистри на лекарствени продукти (medicinal product registers) · read 27 September 2026

No physician may prescribe cannabis in Bulgaria. Authorised medicines containing List II/III narcotic substances are prescribed by doctors on the special narcotic prescription regime; Epidyolex (not a narcotic) follows ordinary specialist prescribing.

ЗКНВП чл. 32(1) and 33(1) require licences for production, wholesale and retail of medicinal products containing narcotic substances; the Ministry of Health publishes a monthly register of licences issued under these articles (latest version dated 1 June 2026). The prescribing rules for narcotic medicines (Наредба № 4 от 2009 г. за условията и реда за предписване и отпускане на лекарствени продукти) could not be opened. There is no cannabis prescriber list because prescribing is not permitted.

Source: Министерство на здравеопазването (Ministry of Health) — Регистър на издадените лицензии по ЗКНВП (register of licences under the narcotics law) · read 27 September 2026

Not applicable for cannabis (cannot be prescribed). For authorised narcotic medicines Bulgaria uses special prescription forms with limited validity; the exact form, validity and day-limits are in Наредба № 4/2009, which could not be opened in this session.

Наредба № 4 от 2009 г. (Ordinance No 4 of 2009 on the conditions and procedure for prescribing and dispensing medicinal products) governs ordinary and special (narcotic) prescriptions and the recognition of prescriptions from other Member States; lex.bg returned 403 for the guessed URL and the Ministry of Health ordinance list did not include it. Not quoted.

Source: Закон за контрол върху наркотичните вещества и прекурсорите — lex.bg · read 27 September 2026

Not applicable: no cannabis prescription can be started in any format in Bulgaria. No official rule on telemedicine for cannabinoid medicines was found.

No official page opened addresses telemedicine for narcotic or cannabinoid medicines.

Source: Министерство на здравеопазването (Ministry of Health) — homepage · read 27 September 2026

Only pharmacies holding a retail licence for narcotic-containing medicines (ЗКНВП чл. 33) may dispense such products, and no cannabis product exists to dispense. Epidyolex, if stocked, is dispensed as an ordinary prescription medicine.

The Ministry of Health's monthly register lists holders of licences 'за производство, търговия на едро и търговия на дребно с лекарствени продукти, съдържащи наркотични вещества' under чл. 32, ал. 1 and чл. 33, ал. 1 ЗКНВП. There is no compounding or mail-order route for cannabis.

Source: Министерство на здравеопазването — Регистър на издадените лицензии по ЗКНВП · read 27 September 2026

Not applicable for cannabis. Whether the НЗОК (Национална здравноосигурителна каса, National Health Insurance Fund) reimburses Epidyolex is not published on the pages opened.

No Positive Drug List (Позитивен лекарствен списък) entry for a cannabinoid medicine could be checked in this session; the НЗОК site was not opened.

Source: ИАЛ — Регистри на лекарствени продукти · read 27 September 2026

No public price: no cannabis product is authorised, and the official price register was not consulted for Epidyolex.

Bulgaria publishes prices through the Национален съвет по цени и реимбурсиране на лекарствените продукти; no cannabis product exists there and Epidyolex's price was not retrieved.

Source: ИАЛ — Регистри на лекарствени продукти · read 27 September 2026

Bulgaria applies zero tolerance: driving after use of narcotic substances is a criminal offence under Наказателен кодекс чл. 343б, ал. 3 ('след употреба на наркотични вещества или техни аналози'), with no THC threshold and no medical exception in the statute.

The Criminal Code text on lex.bg returned 403 in this session, so чл. 343б is not quoted verbatim; the reference is from the brief and general knowledge and should be re-verified against the official text. Roadside drug tests are governed by the Закон за движението по пътищата (Road Traffic Act) чл. 174.

Source: Закон за контрол върху наркотичните вещества и прекурсорите — lex.bg · read 27 September 2026

Bulgaria has been a full Schengen member since 1 January 2025; a Schengen resident carries a Schengen Article 75 certificate (max 30 days) from their home country. Bulgaria's own rule for travellers with narcotic medicines and the customs guidance could not be opened; bringing cannabis flower is not covered by any exception and List I substances are prohibited from import (ЗКНВП чл. 30).

European Commission Schengen page: 'Bulgaria and Romania being the last countries to join on 1 January 2025.' ЗКНВП чл. 30 prohibits import/export of List I plants and preparations; the traveller exception for personal narcotic medicines (if any) sits in later articles not present in the fetched text. Bulgarian Customs (customs.bg) timed out on every request. Non-Schengen/non-EU travellers should obtain written confirmation from the Ministry of Health before travelling with any cannabinoid medicine.

Source: European Commission, DG HOME — Schengen area (membership dates) · read 27 September 2026

A non-resident cannot be prescribed cannabis in Bulgaria because nobody can. A foreign cannabis prescription cannot be filled: List I products cannot be dispensed at all, and Bulgaria's cross-border prescription rules exclude narcotics (not verified in this session). Carry your own medicine with your home-country Schengen certificate; a foreign telemedicine cannabis prescription is of no use here.

(1) Non-resident prescription: barred in substance — Списък I plants/substances are 'забранени за приложение в хуманната ... медицина' (ЗКНВП чл. 3, ал. 2). (2) Foreign EU/EEA prescriptions: Directive 2011/24/EU Art. 11 is transposed in Наредба № 4/2009 (recognition of prescriptions from other Member States); the Art. 11(6) exclusion for narcotic/special prescriptions is expected but the ordinance could not be opened — not verified. (3) Bringing medicine in: Schengen member since 1 January 2025 (Art. 75 certificate); national import exception for personal narcotic medicines not located; cannabis flower falls under the чл. 30 import ban. (4) Foreign telemedicine prescription: cannot be filled for cannabis; for Epidyolex on a valid EU prescription the general recognition rule of Наредба № 4/2009 applies (not verified).

Source: Закон за контрол върху наркотичните вещества и прекурсорите — lex.bg · read 27 September 2026

Nothing pending was found: no bill or ministry consultation on medical cannabis appeared on the Ministry of Health legislation pages opened. The Национален център по наркомании has published an opinion on the therapeutic use of marijuana and derivatives, but its text was not accessible.

The Ministry of Health ordinance list (current items from 2026) contains no cannabis-related draft. The NCN site lists 'Становище на НЦН по отношение на необходимостта и терапевтичното значение на употребата на марихуана и нейни деривати за медицински цели' without an accessible link.

Source: Национален център по наркомании (National Centre for Addictions) — homepage · read 27 September 2026

Not applicable / not published: there are no medical cannabis patients under Bulgarian law and no statistics on cannabinoid medicines were found.

No official count exists; Epidyolex usage statistics are not published on pages opened.

Source: Министерство на здравеопазването — Регистър на издадените лицензии по ЗКНВП · read 27 September 2026