Cannabis law and legislation in Bulgaria

Bulgarian legislation does not allow the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

The use, cultivation, import, export and control of cannabis is generally regulated by the Bulgarian Narcotic Substances and Precursors Control Act (NSPCA). Cannabis falls within Schedule I of “Plants and substances with high degree of risk for the public health due to the harmful effect from its abuse, which are forbidden for use in the humane and veterinary medicine”. The NSPCA provides a general prohibition on the production, processing, trading, storage, import, export, re-export, transit, transfer, transport, supply, acquisition, use and possession of the plants and narcotic substances listed in Schedule I. This means that growing, importing and selling of cannabis for medical use in Bulgaria is forbidden.

Patients in Bulgaria cannot have access to cannabis for medical use.

Any doctors who prescribe cannabis in violation of the regulatory requirements for narcotic substances and their analogues or medicines containing such substances can be sanctioned by imprisonment for up to five years and by a fine up to BGN 3,000 (approximately EUR 1,500), and the court may also rule deprivation of medicinal rights.

The production, import and sale of recreational cannabis is explicitly forbidden in Bulgaria. Even personal recreational use of cannabis is criminalised.

The applicable law allows the cultivation of cannabis plants only: i) if they are intended for fibres, seeds for animal feed or sowing; ii) if they have a content of less than 0.2% THC by weight, which is determined by the foliage, flower and fruit tips; and iii) after obtaining a licence by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Import of cannabis seeds not intended for sowing is also allowed to holders of importer licences, issued by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. However, cannabis seeds not intended for sowing may not be released for free circulation where their germination capacity exceeds 10%.

No reference is made to CBD in the relevant statutes. The only regulations in this regard concern THC.

The cannabis medical business in Bulgaria is illegal and the import of cannabis-based products is illegal.
The Bulgarian Patent Act does not explicitly refer to prohibition in respect of products with narcotic substances, but it does prohibit the patenting of a product (invention or utility models) for which commercial use would contravene public order
and morality. Cannabis-based food supplements and cosmetics are allowed though, under certain conditions, and therefore patentable.

Bulgaria is one of the most conservative countries within the EU with respect to reforms related to cannabis. Major regulatory developments are not foreseen soon.