Bringing ADHD medicine into Georgia

What you need

According to official Georgian guidance, you need all of the following:^1,2,3

• No more than 31 days' supply.¹
• A customs declaration. Fill it in when you arrive, and list the medicine on it.^2,3
• A copy of your prescription, translated into English and certified by an official authority in the country you are travelling from. It should show:^1,3
  • your name, sex and age
  • your diagnosis
  • the medicine's brand name and its general (generic) name
  • the form (for example tablets) and how many
  • how to take it, and for how long
• A certificate from the doctor who prescribed it, translated and certified in the same way.¹
• An official document from an authority in your country, signed and stamped, confirming that the prescription and certificate are genuine.^1,3

Customs officers check the documents against your medicine, stamp them and give them back. Keep them with you for your whole stay.³ Police can also check them inside the country, and the amount must match your prescription.⁴ Never give your medicine to anyone else.¹

Before you travel

• Check the current rules with a Georgian embassy or consulate.²
• Ask your doctor and your country's health authority how to get the translation and certification. Allow several weeks.
• Keep the medicine in its original pharmacy packaging, with the label.
• Carry paper copies of every document.
• If you cannot get all the documents, talk to your doctor about other options for the trip.

If you run out while in Georgia

According to the customs guidance, a foreigner who cannot leave Georgia and has run out of medicine can go to a medical facility with the customs-stamped documents. The facility can then register them and write a prescription under Georgian rules.¹

What happened in a 2026 case

On 30 April 2026, customs officers at Tbilisi airport stopped a 22-year-old tourist from Canada.⁴ He had Adderall prescribed in Canada, in a labelled bottle with a pharmacy receipt, but not the prescription itself, and he had not declared it. His family says he did not know it was banned.^5,6

The Ministry of Internal Affairs said he did not show the required documents: a stamped prescription in English, a certificate from the prescribing doctor, and a customs declaration.^7,4 He was charged with large-scale smuggling and illegal possession of narcotic drugs, and held in Gldani prison in Tbilisi.⁶ In late June, he pleaded guilty, paid a fine of 30,000 GEL (about 11,000 US dollars), was released and left Georgia the same day.^8,9

Other cases

Radio Tavisupleba reported that in 2024 a Georgian psychotherapist with ADHD was questioned at the border, but was not fined or jailed. It also reported that a family member who collected medicine sent from abroad was detained, then released after the Ministry of Health found the medicine was medically needed.⁴

If you live in Georgia

The 31-day rule is for people entering the country. Stimulant medicines are not sold here, and according to adhd.ge, they cannot be sent by post.¹⁰ There is no published procedure for residents to get them regularly.¹⁰

Why these rules matter

Methylphenidate and amphetamines are controlled under an international UN convention. That convention allows them to be used as medicines under strict control.¹¹ Across the European Union, methylphenidate is available on prescription.¹² In Georgia, no stimulant medicine is registered, so people who need one cannot get it here.¹⁰

This affects visitors, foreign residents and Georgian citizens alike. Visitors can face criminal charges over a missing document,⁸ and people who live in Georgia have no published way to get these medicines regularly.¹⁰ Other countries have changed similar rules: in 2026, the Maldives made methylphenidate available for treating ADHD.¹³ Clear, published rules for patients, and registering at least one stimulant medicine, would reduce the risk for everyone. Recommendations

Where this information comes from

1. Revenue Service of Georgia. Prohibited and Permitted Medicaments (customs leaflet, PDF).
2. Consulate General of Georgia in New York, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. "Bringing medications into Georgia."
3. Embassy of Greece in Tbilisi (29 August 2014). "New Law of Georgia on Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors" (list of documents required at entry).
4. Radio Tavisupleba (13 June 2026). "It helps you live but causes trouble with the law: what happens if ADHD medicine is found on you?" (in Georgian; title translated). RFE/RL.
5. CBC News (June 2026). "Vancouver man detained in Georgia for carrying ADHD meds, family says."
6. Civil.ge (8 June 2026). "Canadian student detained after entering Georgia with ADHD medication, family says."
7. OC Media (June 2026). "Canadian man reportedly detained in Tbilisi for carrying Adderall."
8. OC Media (June 2026). "Canadian tourist arrested in Georgia for having ADHD medication released after hefty fine."
9. Radio Tavisupleba (June 2026). "Tourist detained at the airport over ADHD medicine to get a plea deal, says lawyer" (in Georgian; title translated). RFE/RL.
10. "ADHD in Georgia." adhd.ge, an independent volunteer site. Includes the Ministry of Health's reply of February 2023. Last updated 9 July 2026.
11. International Narcotics Control Board. Green List: psychotropic substances under international control (Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971).
12. European Medicines Agency (2009). "European Medicines Agency makes recommendations for safer use of Ritalin and other methylphenidate-containing medicines in the EU."
13. President's Office, Republic of Maldives (12 May 2026). "President issues decree amending the Drugs Act to facilitate the availability of methylphenidate for ADHD treatment."