Contents
Market Overview
Cyprus has taken incremental steps toward medical cannabis legalisation, beginning in 2017 with legislation permitting the treatment of patients with advanced cancer using medical cannabis oil. This was followed by a 2019 expansion, which significantly broadened the range of eligible medical conditions and introduced provisions for cultivation, manufacture, import, and export of cannabis for medical use.
Despite these early legislative advances, Cyprus’s medical cannabis market remains undeveloped, with no formalised regulatory or commercial framework in place for patient access, prescribing, or domestic production.
Patient access remains exceptional rather than standardised, and there are no authorised medical cannabis products currently available in Cypriot pharmacies.
Until a comprehensive regulatory system is introduced, medical cannabis activity in Cyprus will remain minimal, with both patient treatment and industry development limited to isolated, case-by-case approvals.
Regulatory Framework
The initial 2017 law allowed for the medical use of cannabis oil exclusively in the treatment of patients with advanced-stage cancer. In 2019, an amendment expanded eligibility and introduced a broader legal basis for production and trade, formally legalising:
- Cultivation and manufacture of cannabis for medical use
- Import and export of cannabis and cannabis-derived medicines
- Prescription for specific chronic and degenerative diseases
However, Cyprus has not yet implemented secondary regulations to operationalise this legal framework. As a result, the mechanisms governing licensing, product approval, and distribution have not been established.
Under current law:
- Patients may only access medical cannabis via individual ministerial approval, granted by the Minister of Health upon application by a licensed physician.
- No companies have received operational licences for cultivation, production, or distribution.
- There is no established process for market authorisation, quality assurance, or pharmacy dispensing.
The absence of clear regulatory pathways has stalled both commercial investment and domestic patient access, despite the legal foundation for a medical cannabis system being in place.
Patient Access
Who Can Prescribe?
Only licensed physicians may apply for patient approval, and even then, treatment requires individual ministerial authorisation.
Approved Indications (2019 Amendment):
- Cancer (advanced or chronic pain-related)
- HIV/AIDS
- Degenerative diseases of the motor system
- Rheumatism
- Neuropathy
- Glaucoma
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Crohn’s disease
Access Procedure:
- The treating physician submits an application to the Minister of Health on behalf of the patient.
- The Ministry reviews and may grant exceptional approval on a case-by-case basis.
- Only after approval can medical cannabis oil be imported or dispensed under controlled supervision.
Reimbursement:
There are currently no reimbursement mechanisms or public funding schemes for medical cannabis treatment in Cyprus. All costs are borne directly by the patient, and treatment remains rare.ment available for medical cannabis treatment in Greece. All costs are borne out-of-pocket by patients.
Industry Development
Although the 2019 law legalised cultivation, manufacturing, and export, there has been no practical progress in establishing a domestic industry.
Barriers to development include:
- Lack of secondary legislation and licensing criteria
- Absence of EU-GMP or GACP production facilities
- Limited ministerial oversight capacity
- No clear product registration or export guidelines
As a result, Cyprus has not attracted investment or operational activity from international medical cannabis producers, and there are no active cultivation or manufacturing sites as of 2025 companies progress through the licensing and authorisation pipeline.
Outlook
Cyprus remains a symbolic rather than operational medical cannabis market. The legal framework exists, but without detailed regulation or administrative structure, neither patients nor producers can meaningfully participate.
Key factors shaping the future outlook include:
- Development of secondary regulations to enable cultivation, licensing, and product authorisation.
- Government commitment to expanding patient access beyond ministerial exemptions.
- Potential collaboration with established EU cannabis producers to build compliant facilities and supply domestic demand.
Until these conditions are met, Cyprus will continue to lag behind its Mediterranean neighbours, such as Greece and Malta, in establishing a functional and regulated medical cannabis system standard medical cannabis production, aligning with EU pharmaceutical norms while supporting a growing domestic market.
