Is Clonazepam legal in Bulgaria?
- Legal status
- Controlled. Clonazepam is a named entry of Списък III of the Наредба за реда за класифициране на растенията и веществата като наркотични, at «Клоназепам», «5-(2-Хлорфенил)-7-нитро-1,3-дихидро-2H-1,4-бензодиазепин-2-он». The row sits between cloxazolam and clorazepate, which are different substances with similar names, so the row was read rather than matched on the first few letters. Списък III is the Act's «Рискови вещества», and чл. 3, ал. 2 of the Закон за контрол върху наркотичните вещества и прекурсорите puts those names in a Council of Ministers наредба rather than in the Act itself. The list closes with a note carrying it across the related forms, «Към Списък ІІІ са и изомерите, естерите, етерите и солите (включително солите на естерите, етерите и изомерите) на веществата по Списък ІІІ», so salts and isomers of the entry travel with it. The entry was read in Приложение № 3 as enacted by Постановление № 293 of 27 October 2011, as those lists stand after Постановление № 49 of 8 May 2025, which is the last amendment to the наредба recorded by the Council of Ministers legal information system.
- Consequences if caught
- Capital exposure: none. Bulgaria is in the European Union and the death penalty was abolished in 1998, so no Bulgarian drug provision carries one. The figures in the rest of this paragraph are carried forward from the live Bulgaria cell and were not re-derived in this pass. Possession is not subject to a formal personal-use threshold. Penal Code article 354a(5) lets a judge impose a fine up to about 1,000 leva (about €511) for insignificant quantities, but it remains a criminal conviction. Standard possession of high-risk drugs draws 1 to 6 years. A 2,000 to 10,000 leva fine runs alongside that band. Possession of moderate-risk drugs draws up to 5 years. Trafficking under article 354a draws 2 to 8 years for high-risk drugs and 1 to 6 years for moderate-risk drugs. It rises to up to 15 years for aggravated or particularly large amounts. Cultivation of opium poppy, coca or cannabis is prohibited by article 354c. The high-risk and moderate-risk split those bands run on is drawn by Penal Code articles 354a, 354b and 354c together with the Law on Control of Narcotic Substances and Precursors, the ЗКНВП. Those are Penal Code provisions rather than наредба provisions, and they describe the offences that this row's placement brings into play.
- If prescribed or medical
- Чл. 58, ал. 1 of the Закон за контрол върху наркотичните вещества и прекурсорите lets a person in transit or temporarily in the country hold medicinal products containing narcotic substances «от списъците по чл. 3, ал. 2, т. 2 и 3» only for treatment and in quantities no greater than 30 days of treatment, and чл. 58, ал. 2 requires a foreign national to hold a document issued by the competent authorities of the country where the treatment was prescribed. Списък III is the list that allowance calls т. 3, so the entry at «Клоназепам» is inside чл. 58 rather than outside it. Чл. 60 sets how it is prescribed: ал. 1 sends the manner of prescribing to a наредба of the Minister of Health, ал. 2 requires special prescription forms that are subject to special accounting, and ал. 4 limits prescribing to qualified doctors and dentists. Carry the prescription, the dispensing packaging and, for a stay of any length, the чл. 58, ал. 2 document from the prescribing country. Confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.
- Documentation
- The наредба has no consolidated text at an official publisher. What was read instead is the official file set: the наредба as adopted by Постановление № 293 of 27 October 2011, then every one of the fourteen amending Постановления in order, each downloaded as the Word file the Council of Ministers legal information system publishes. Приложение № 1 was replaced whole by Постановление № 253 of 2013, so the 2013 text and not the 2011 one is the base for Списък I. The row relied on for this cell is in Приложение № 3 as enacted by Постановление № 293 of 27 October 2011. One § of Постановление № 184 of 2023 amends a different instrument, Постановление № 23 of 1998 on the prices of narcotic substances for court proceedings, and its rows were excluded from the search rather than read as schedule entries. The Penal Code figures in the street paragraph are carried forward from the live Bulgaria cell and were not re-derived here, so the Penal Code itself was not read for this row. Carry any controlled medicine with its prescription and confirm requirements with your embassy before travel.
- Bulgaria, Наредба за реда за класифициране на растенията и веществата като наркотични, Приложение № 3, Списък III, the entry for Clonazepam
- the instrument carrying that entry is Приложение № 3 as enacted by Постановление № 293 of 27 October 2011 at https://pris.government.bg/document/65505dc00d92c4be0a95ef8ecc4e8bbd
- the наредба as adopted, with its full amendment chain, at https://pris.government.bg/document/65505dc00d92c4be0a95ef8ecc4e8bbd
- Закон за контрол върху наркотичните вещества и прекурсорите, чл. 3, ал. 2, чл. 4, ал. 2, чл. 58 and чл. 60, in the consolidated text published by the Ministry of Health at https://www.mh.government.bg/bg/normativni-aktove/zakoni/kontrol-varhu-narkotichni-veshtestva-i-prekursori/
- the Penal Code figures in consequences_street are carried forward from the live Bulgaria cell and were not re-derived in this pass
- the live cell's own citation for those figures is Penal Code Arts 354a, 354b and 354c with the Law on Control of Narcotic Substances and Precursors (ZKNVP)
- the lists were read as they stand after Постановление № 49 of 8 May 2025 and read on 21 September 2026
Court records
We have not yet assessed whether court records are publicly available for this jurisdiction.
Other substances confirmed in Bulgaria
Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Bulgaria’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.
Before you travel
Verify current rules with the destination country’s official drug authority and your own country’s embassy before traveling. Find the destination’s U.S. embassy & official country guidance →
Non-U.S. travelers: check your own government’s travel advisory and embassy.
If you’re detained or arrested abroad
Contact your own country’s embassy or consulate in the destination immediately, not the destination’s authorities. U.S. citizens: contact the nearest U.S. embassy/consulate and the U.S. State Department at +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad). If a U.S. citizen is arrested or detained abroad →
