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Europe · all countries · model E — Cannabinoid medicines only

Medical cannabis in Belgium

Sativex and CBD preparations only

Belgium has no medical cannabis programme: pharmacies may dispense only Sativex and pharmacy-made CBD preparations (max 0.1 % THC); every other form — flower, THC oils — is banned by the Royal Decree of 11 June 2015, even with a prescription.

The hardest fact about Belgium. A Belgian doctor may in principle prescribe cannabis flower and a Belgian patient may buy it in a foreign pharmacy — but bringing it home is illegal above 0.3 % THC, and the FAGG explicitly refuses to validate Schengen certificates for it.

Every answer below was read in the law, the register or the official statistic itself. This country is part of the Europe layer: an English page of verified facts, no directory. Where an answer is marked as not published, no official source states it — we did not fill the gap with a guess.

The questions, answered for Belgium

How access works here

The one-line answer: can a new patient start today, and through what.

E — cannabinoid medicines only. No cannabis flower, extract or THC-containing pharmacy preparation may be dispensed; authorised medicines are the only route.

Koninklijk besluit van 11 juni 2015 tot het reglementeren van producten die één of meer tetrahydrocannabinolen bevatten (Royal Decree regulating products containing one or more tetrahydrocannabinols), Belgisch Staatsblad 25.06.2015, art. 2: 'wordt de aflevering ... van magistrale of officinale bereidingen ... die één of meer tetrahydrocannabinolen bevatten, verboden.' Legal basis: wet van 24 februari 1921 (Drugs Act). A 2019 law providing for a state 'Cannabisbureau' (cannabis agency) is reported but was not verified in this session and has no visible operating programme.

Source: Koninklijk besluit van 11 juni 2015 tot het reglementeren van producten die één of meer tetrahydrocannabinolen bevatten (Belgisch Staatsblad copy, openjustice.be) · read 27 September 2026

What may be prescribed

What the law allows a doctor to write on a prescription here.

Sativex (THC/CBD spray, MS spasticity) and magistral preparations containing CBD with at most 0.1 % THC. Nothing else: THC-only preparations are prohibited and pharmacies may not dispense other cannabis forms.

FAGG: « Sativex is een vergund geneesmiddel met medicinale cannabis. Magistrale bereidingen met cannabidiol (CBD) zijn ook geneesmiddelen … Belgische apotheken mogen wettelijk geen andere vormen van cannabis voor medicinale doeleinden afleveren » (Koninklijk besluit van 11 juni 2015). « Magistrale bereidingen die enkel THC bevatten zijn verboden. De maximale hoeveelheid d9-THC die een bereiding met CBD mag bevatten, is vastgelegd op 0,1 %. »

Source: FAGG/AFMPS — « Vragen over medicinale cannabis » (laatste update 20.01.2026) · read 27 September 2026

Who may prescribe

Whether you need a specialist, and whether anyone has to approve it first.

Sativex is under restricted prescription — a specialist experienced in treating the condition; a CBD magistral preparation also requires a doctor experienced with the treatment.

FAGG: « Sativex is onderworpen aan een beperkt medisch voorschrift … alleen … door een arts-specialist die ervaring heeft in de behandeling van aandoeningen waarvoor dit geneesmiddel is bestemd. » Prescribing narcotics/psychotropics (cannabis > 0.3 % THC or THC) without justification is punishable under the law of 24 February 1921.

Source: FAGG/AFMPS — « Vragen over medicinale cannabis » (laatste update 20.01.2026) · read 27 September 2026

Type of prescription

The form itself: which prescription, how long it is valid, how much it covers.

An ordinary doctor's prescription; Sativex and CBD preparations may be dispensed by hospital and community pharmacies alike.

FAGG: a pharmacist in a community pharmacy « mag medicinale cannabis afleveren aan een patiënt die een voorschrift heeft van een arts » — Sativex or a CBD magistral preparation. Reimbursement, not legality, depends on the pharmacy type.

Source: FAGG/AFMPS — « Vragen over medicinale cannabis » (laatste update 20.01.2026) · read 27 September 2026

Dispensing

Which pharmacy can actually hand it over.

Pharmacies may dispense only authorised medicines; they are prohibited from preparing or handing out any preparation containing THC.

KB 11.06.2015 art. 2 prohibits 'de aflevering' (dispensing) of magistral or officinal preparations containing tetrahydrocannabinols; art. 3 repealed the Royal Decree of 4 July 2001. Mail order of prescription medicines by Belgian pharmacies is generally not permitted, but that rule was not opened in this session.

Source: Koninklijk besluit van 11 juni 2015 (Belgisch Staatsblad copy, openjustice.be) · read 27 September 2026

Reimbursement

Whether anyone other than you pays for it.

Sativex is reimbursed only for multiple sclerosis, prescribed by a neurologist or neuropsychiatrist, dispensed in a hospital pharmacy and with prior approval of the insurer's medical adviser. Since 1 May 2025 CBD magistral preparations are reimbursed with clobazam for Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes.

FAGG: Sativex « wordt enkel terugbetaald als het: voorgeschreven wordt door een neuroloog of een neuropsychiater; … voor de indicatie multiple sclerose (MS); afgeleverd wordt in een ziekenhuisapotheek » (RIZIV hoofdstuk IV § 7850100/7850200); collected in a community pharmacy it is not reimbursed. CBD preparations: « Sinds 1 mei 2025 … in aanmerking voor terugbetaling, wanneer ze worden gebruikt in combinatie met clobazam » for Dravet (§ 34.A) and Lennox-Gastaut from age 2 (§ 34.B), with insurer authorisation requested by a paediatric epilepsy specialist.

Source: FAGG/AFMPS — « Vragen over medicinale cannabis » (laatste update 20.01.2026) · read 27 September 2026

Driving

The question with the worst consequences and the least reliable information online.

Belgium is effectively zero-tolerance: driving with 1 ng/ml or more THC in blood (10 ng/ml in saliva analysis; 25 ng/ml saliva screening) is an offence, and the statute contains no exemption for prescribed medicines.

Wet betreffende de politie over het wegverkeer (Road Traffic Police Act, coordinated 16.03.1968) art. 37bis § 1 1° as inserted by the Wet van 31 juli 2009 tot invoering van speekseltesten op drugs in het verkeer (Act introducing saliva drug tests in traffic): blood threshold for Delta-9-THC 1 ng/ml; art. 61bis § 2 saliva screening 25 ng/ml; art. 62ter § 1 saliva analysis 10 ng/ml. The act provides a 'legitimate reason' for refusing a test but no exemption for medical use. Analytical procedures: Koninklijk besluit van 27 november 2015 on saliva analysis and blood tests.

Source: Wet van 31 juli 2009 tot invoering van speekseltesten op drugs in het verkeer (Belgisch Staatsblad copy, openjustice.be) · read 27 September 2026

Travel

Taking it across a border, which is where most published advice is simply wrong.

Cannabis preparations above 0.3 % THC are narcotics in Belgium; they may be carried in only with a Schengen certificate validated by the authority of the country where the patient is domiciled — and the FAGG does not validate such certificates for bringing flower into Belgium, because dispensing it is banned here.

FAGG: « Dergelijke middelen meenemen naar België mag alleen met een gevalideerde Schengenverklaring op naam … In België is het FAGG verantwoordelijk voor het valideren … Omdat de aflevering van dergelijke bereidingen in België is verboden, valideert het FAGG geen Schengenverklaringen om deze het land in te brengen. De politie kan deze bereidingen dus in beslag nemen. » A visitor from another Schengen state with a certificate issued by their own authority is a different case not addressed on the page.

Source: FAGG/AFMPS — « Vragen over medicinale cannabis » (laatste update 20.01.2026) · read 27 September 2026

As a visitor or new resident

Four things nobody publishes together: getting a prescription as a non-resident, using a prescription from another EU country, bringing your own medicine in, and whether a foreign video consultation counts.

There is nothing for a visitor to obtain: only Sativex and CBD preparations exist. The FAGG confirms the reverse case — a Belgian with a Belgian prescription may buy flower in a foreign pharmacy that serves foreign patients, but may not bring it back above 0.3 % THC.

1. Non-resident prescription in Belgium: only Sativex/CBD, under the same specialist rules. 2. Foreign EU prescription for flower: not dispensable — Belgian pharmacies may not dispense flower at all (KB 11.06.2015). 3. Own medicine: FAGG validates no Schengen certificates for cannabis flower entering Belgium; police may seize it. 4. Belgian patients abroad: « Artsen genieten therapeutische vrijheid en kunnen deze bereidingen in principe voorschrijven. Wie daarvoor een doktersvoorschrift heeft, zou deze rechtmatig kunnen aankopen in een buitenlandse apotheek waar de aflevering mogelijk is » — but « je mag deze bereidingen niet meenemen naar België » above 0.3 % THC.

Source: FAGG/AFMPS — « Vragen over medicinale cannabis » (laatste update 20.01.2026) · read 27 September 2026

What is changing

What is pending in parliament or at the regulator, with dates — or the statement that nothing is.

The only recent change is reimbursement of CBD magistral preparations from 1 May 2025 for two paediatric epilepsies; no cannabis programme is announced (FAGG page last updated 20 January 2026).

FAGG notes that Sativex's indication could be extended to pain only after the marketing-authorisation holder files trial results; a medical need programme can be requested per patient for unauthorised indications.

Source: FAGG/AFMPS — « Vragen over medicinale cannabis » (laatste update 20.01.2026) · read 27 September 2026

What we can publish for Belgium, and what we cannot

Four directories, four honest answers. Where an official register exists we republish it and link every entry back to the source. Where none exists, that is what the page says — a list built out of self-declarations would be worse than no list, and saying so is more useful to you than pretending.

Doctors

No list — by design

Restricted prescription by experienced specialists; no public prescriber list.

Pharmacies

No list — by design

Any pharmacy may dispense Sativex or a CBD preparation; no register marks anything cannabis-specific.

Products and preparations

No list — by design

One authorised specialty (Sativex) and pharmacy-made CBD preparations; no product list to republish.

Telemedicine platforms

No list — by design

No cannabis telemedicine market can exist where flower and THC preparations may not be dispensed.

Where this country's law lives

Everything above comes from these texts rather than from another portal's summary. They are listed so you can check us.

Crossing a border with this

Two European rules decide most of what a traveller asks. Directive 2011/24/EU obliges pharmacies to honour prescriptions from another Member State — but only for medicines authorised in the dispensing country, and its Article 11(6) says the rule “shall not apply to medicinal products subject to special medical prescription”, which is where narcotic prescriptions sit. A magistral cannabis preparation is neither authorised nor outside that exclusion, so a cannabis prescription from another country is, as a rule, not dispensable anywhere in Europe. For carrying your own medicine, Article 75 of the Schengen Convention lets a resident of a Schengen state travel with a certified supply for up to 30 days; outside Schengen, national import rules apply. The country-specific answer is above under “As a visitor or new resident”.

Directive 2011/24/EU, Article 11(1) and 11(6) — read on EUR-Lex on 27 September 2026: CELEX 32011L0024.

Other countries with the same model (cannabinoid medicines only)

The answers change at every border, and a prescription does not travel with you. Compare before you assume.