Cannabis law and legislation in Bosnia & Herzegovina

The medical use of cannabis is not regulated in Bosnia and Herzegovina as such. However, the Law on Prevention and Suppression of Narcotic Drugs Abuse of Bosnia and Herzegovina only permits growing, importing and selling hemp for industrial purposes. Therefore, it’s arguable that growing, importing and selling of hemp for medical use is not permitted.

Producing, importing and selling recreational hemp is prohibited in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Industrial hemp is only allowed to be grown for the production of fibres, production of seeds used for nutrition of animals, further reproduction and processing of seeds and placing it to market. However, the growth of industrial hemp for the above uses is only permissible in the event that the content of THC in dry matter of the plant does not exceed 0.2%.
Additionally, only natural and legal entities which are authorised by the competent body are permitted to grow and place hemp on market, provided also that the type of hemp in question is registered with the competent body.

Under the Law on Prevention and Suppression of Narcotic Drugs Abuse, violations of industrial hemp are considered to be a misdemeanour with a prescribed fine ranging from BAM 5,000 to BAM 100,000 depending on the violation in question.

No explicit regulation concerning cannabis CBD exists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however the Decision on the list of prohibited substances of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2020 states that all natural and synthetic cannabinoids are forbidden except cannabidiol. In practice, however, this is a grey area due to lack of specific legislation

It is possible to patent a cannabis-based product provided that it fulfils the conditions prescribed by the relevant patent law.

Lately there have been initiatives for amendments of the regulations regarding the medical use of hemp However, this procedure is time consuming as the matter has to be addressed on several regulatory levels and by various competent bodies.