Medical cannabis: Ukraine has not yet issued a single official license for its cultivation

Despite the law on the legalization of medical cannabis adopted in 2023, Ukraine has not yet issued a single official license for its cultivation. This was reported by the head of the Ukrainian Medical Cannabis Association, Gennady Shabas, in a comment to the Delo.ua publication. According to the expert, the full implementation of the reform is being delayed due to a number of administrative and technical barriers.

“No company has yet received a license, and therefore, quotas for growing plants have not been determined. In fact, the industry is just beginning to take shape,” Shabas noted. He also noted that the import process is also slowing down — the Ministry of Health has not yet approved a quota for the import of active pharmaceutical ingredients from cannabis. The reason is the lack of an official calculation of the need, without which the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not issue an import permit.

The problem is not only the lack of political will or funding, but also the overly complex licensing requirements that are still scaring off potential investors. To obtain a permit to grow medical cannabis, a company must meet strict standards. In particular, this includes the creation of production facilities certified according to international standards GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) and USP (United States Pharmacopeia).

In addition, the mandatory conditions for obtaining a license are the presence of highly qualified personnel, separate permits for the storage and transportation of narcotic substances, as well as 24-hour video surveillance throughout the facility. “The procedure for obtaining a license is not complicated — the difficulty is to comply with all the requirements. Only after that will licensing become a formality,” emphasized Shabas.

Given the large number of requirements and the slow administrative process, the medical cannabis market in Ukraine remains virtually inaccessible to real players. This significantly complicates providing patients with legal drugs that could improve the quality of life of thousands of people suffering from oncological, neurological and mental illnesses.

At the same time, experts emphasize that the reform can work if the state revises licensing barriers, simplifies regulatory policy and ensures transparency of quotas. Otherwise, Ukraine risks losing the chance to become a competitive player in an industry that is actively developing all over the world.