🇲🇹 Medical cannabis in Malta

B — controlled national programme: cannabis is a distinct legal category with an official approved-product list, prescribing by any licensed doctor, and a per-patient control card from the Superintendent of Public Health under the narcotics rules (a named-patient formality rather than an exceptional permit).

Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act, Cap. 537, art. 10 (inserted 2018): 10(1) 'A licenced medical practitioner who is duly registered in accordance with the Health Care Professions Act, shall be entitled to prescribe to patients medicinal preparations of the plant cannabis and synthetic Cannabinoid products licensed under the Medicines Act or manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice'; 10(4) practitioners 'apply for the preparations ... only on a named patient basis as directed by the Superintendent of Public Health'; 10(3) the Medicines Act and Drugs (Control) Regulations apply as to control cards, and 'no urgent prescriptions shall be allowed'. The Production of Cannabis for Medicinal and Research Purposes Act, Cap. 578 (2018), governs licensed producers. The Medicines Authority runs a Cannabis for Medicinal and Research Purposes unit and publishes the approved-product list.

Source: Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act, Cap. 537 (consolidated PDF, legislation.mt) · read 27 September 2026

Only products on the Medicines Authority's approved list: 38 products as of 21 August 2026, mostly dried cannabis flower (THC up to about 31%), plus oral solutions/sublingual drops and standardised extracts, and the authorised medicine Epidyolex. Nothing may be prescribed for smoking.

Medicines Authority, 'List of medicinal cannabis-based products which have been approved for the local market' (updated 21/08/2026): 38 products — dried inflorescence (e.g. 'Aphria 22/1, Variety Bienville', 'Cannabis Flos WEECO BR 22/1', 'Materia 8 Ball Kush'), sublingual drops and oral solutions (e.g. 'BCANN THC 10: CBD 280', 'BCANN THC 200: CBD 40'), extracts in MCT oil, and Epidyolex; THC/CBD from <1% to 31% w/w for dried products and 10–280 mg/mL for liquids; asterisked products may be labelled with batch-specific assay ±20%. Cap. 537 art. 10(2): 'None of the preparations ... may be indicated for smoking or in any form meant for smoking.' Products are 'licensed under the Medicines Act or manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice' (art. 10(1)).

Source: Medicines Authority — List of medicinal cannabis-based products approved for the local market (updated 21.08.2026) · read 27 September 2026

Any medical practitioner licensed and registered in Malta; no specialist restriction and no prescriber licence. The doctor must first request a control card for the named patient from the Superintendent of Public Health.

Cap. 537 art. 10(1) and 10(4). Drugs (Control) Regulations, S.L. 31.18, reg. 9(1)(a): 'No medical practitioner may prescribe any specified drug to any person unless such person is in possession of a control card'; reg. 9(2): 'The Superintendent shall issue such control card to the person concerned on receipt of a request, from a medical practitioner' (Tenth Schedule form); reg. 7(5): the practitioner must know the patient or verify identity 'through his legally valid identification document'; reg. 7(6): must check the patient is not obtaining similar drugs from another prescriber.

Source: Drugs (Control) Regulations, S.L. 31.18 (consolidated PDF, legislation.mt) · read 27 September 2026

A dangerous-drug prescription on the official form, in ink, signed and dated, dispensed once only; the patient must hold a control card valid for up to one year (renewable); urgent prescriptions are not allowed for cannabis.

S.L. 31.18 reg. 7(1): 'Every manual prescription for a specified drug shall be written in ink or in other indelible material on the form set out in the Seventh Schedule'; reg. 7(2): filled clearly, signed in full, dated; reg. 8(3): 'No specified drug shall be supplied more than once on the same prescription'; reg. 9(3): 'No control card shall be valid in excess of a period of one year from the date on which it is issued, unless it is renewed'. Cap. 537 art. 10(3): 'no urgent prescriptions shall be allowed in relation to these preparations'. Quantity caps per prescription: not published in the texts opened.

Source: Drugs (Control) Regulations, S.L. 31.18, regs. 7–9 · read 27 September 2026

Not published. The law does not name video consultation; it does require the doctor to know the patient or verify identity with a valid ID document, and the control-card request goes through the Superintendent, so a purely remote first prescription depends on how those steps are done.

S.L. 31.18 reg. 7(5) (identity verification) and reg. 9 (control card via Superintendent) are the relevant gates; no Maltese rule specific to telemedicine cannabis prescribing was found on the Medicines Authority pages or in Cap. 537.

Source: Drugs (Control) Regulations, S.L. 31.18, reg. 7(5) · read 27 September 2026

Only a pharmacist in a licensed pharmacy may dispense, and only to a patient holding a control card; products are imported by licensed wholesale dealers. There is no official list of pharmacies that stock cannabis; mail order is not provided for.

Cap. 537 art. 10(5): preparations may only be 'dispensed by a pharmacist from a licensed pharmacy'; 10(6): 'imported by a licensed wholesale dealer or a licensed manufacturer'. S.L. 31.18 reg. 8(1): 'No person other than an apothecary shall dispense a prescription for a specified drug'; reg. 9(4): 'No apothecary shall dispense any specified drug to any person who is not in possession of a control card'; reg. 8(6): pharmacies send all dangerous-drug prescriptions to the Superintendent monthly. The Medicines Authority site has a general 'Pharmacy Roster' but no cannabis-stocking list.

Source: Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act, Cap. 537, art. 10(5)–(6) · read 27 September 2026

No public reimbursement of cannabis products is provided for in the texts opened; patients pay the pharmacy price. No official statement on government-formulary inclusion was found.

Not published: neither Cap. 537 art. 10 nor the Medicines Authority cannabis page mention reimbursement or the Government Formulary; treat as self-pay unless an official source says otherwise.

Source: Medicines Authority — Cannabis for Medicinal and Research Purposes · read 27 September 2026

No public price. The Medicines Authority's approved-product list gives names and strengths but no prices.

Not published: the approved list (21.08.2026) contains no price column; no regulator price database for these products was found.

Source: Medicines Authority — approved cannabis-based products list · read 27 September 2026

Malta has a zero-tolerance drug-driving offence with a THC blood limit of 2 µg/L; a driver who tests positive and holds a valid drug control card or is on prescribed medication must produce the card or prescription. Fines start at €4,000 and a driving ban of at least six months.

Traffic Regulation Ordinance, Cap. 65: art. 15A (unfit to drive); art. 15BA: 'No person shall drive, attempt to drive or be in control of a motor vehicle ... after consuming any drugs, if such person still has any amount of such drug in his body'; art. 15CD: 'The permissible level of tetrahydrocannabinol in the blood shall be of two (2) microgrammes per litre of blood' for non-commercial drivers; art. 15CA/15E: oral-fluid screening and confirmatory laboratory analysis; art. 15CC: persons with 'a valid drug control card or who are on prescribed medication shall produce such card or prescription' after a positive test; art. 15H(1): fine not less than €4,000 (first conviction), €8,000 thereafter; 15H(2): disqualification not less than six months (first), one year (subsequent). Whether producing the card is a full defence or only a factor is not spelled out in the extract.

Source: Traffic Regulation Ordinance, Cap. 65 (consolidated PDF, legislation.mt) · read 27 September 2026

Malta is in Schengen: a resident of another Schengen state may bring their own prescribed cannabis medicine with a Schengen Art. 75 certificate (max 30 days). The Maltese customs/health page on travelling with narcotic medicines could not be found in this session, so rules for non-Schengen travellers are not stated.

Not published here: customs.gov.mt redirects to mtca.gov.mt, whose homepage lists no traveller-medicines page; the Superintendence of Public Health site was unreachable (HTTP 530). Cap. 537 art. 10(6) allows import only by licensed wholesale dealers or manufacturers — personal import by patients is not addressed in that Act.

Source: Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act, Cap. 537, art. 10(6) · read 27 September 2026

A visitor can be prescribed cannabis in Malta only after a Maltese doctor obtains a control card for them from the Superintendent of Public Health, which requires identity verification with a valid ID; the law sets no residency condition but the card process is the gate. A cannabis prescription from another EU country cannot be dispensed: Maltese pharmacies may only dispense to control-card holders on the national form, and narcotic prescriptions are outside EU cross-border recognition. Bring your own only with the Schengen certificate.

(1) Non-residents: no nationality/residency bar in Cap. 537 art. 10 or S.L. 31.18; gates are reg. 7(5) identity verification 'through his legally valid identification document' and reg. 9 control card issued by the Superintendent on a doctor's request — whether the Superintendent issues cards to visitors is not published. (2) Foreign EU prescriptions: S.L. 31.18 reg. 7(1) requires the Seventh Schedule national form and reg. 9(4) a control card, and Directive 2011/24/EU Art. 11(6) excludes special-prescription medicines; Malta's transposing regulations could not be located on legislation.mt in this session, so the national wording is not quoted. (3) Bringing medicine in: Schengen Art. 75 certificate for Schengen residents; Maltese rule for non-Schengen/non-EU travellers not published here. (4) Foreign telemedicine prescription: not dispensable, following from (2) — no Maltese control card and not on the national form.

Source: Drugs (Control) Regulations, S.L. 31.18, regs. 7 and 9 · read 27 September 2026

No pending change to the medical framework was found; the Medicines Authority keeps expanding the approved-product list (latest update 21 August 2026) and updated producer/importer guidelines in 2026.

Medicines Authority cannabis page: product list updated 21/08/2026 (38 products); 'General Guidelines for importers/wholesale distributors' updated 26/05/2026; 'General Guidelines on production of cannabis' updated 15/01/2026. Cap. 537 shows amendments through 2025 (consolidation dated 16.05.2025) with art. 10 as quoted. No draft amendment affecting patients was found on the pages opened.

Source: Medicines Authority — Cannabis for Medicinal and Research Purposes · read 27 September 2026

No official count of control-card holders or cannabis prescriptions was found on the Medicines Authority or legislation pages opened.

Not published here: the Superintendence of Public Health receives all dangerous-drug prescriptions monthly (S.L. 31.18 reg. 8(6)) but no statistics page could be opened (site returned HTTP 530).

Source: Medicines Authority — Cannabis for Medicinal and Research Purposes · read 27 September 2026