Cannabis — Costa Rica
What travelers need to know about cannabis in Costa Rica. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Cannabis in Costa Rica: restricted — there are real limits travelers must follow.
Cannabis is not legal in Costa Rica, but possessing a personal amount is not a criminal offence. The drug law (Ley 7786, as reformed by Ley 8204) punishes possession in article 58 only when the drug is held for selling, supplying, transporting, storing or producing it, and Costa Rican law contains no offence of simple possession or of use. Consuming in public carries no penalty — the law offers free, voluntary treatment instead. But no quantity is published anywhere, so if you are stopped it is the authorities who decide afterwards whether you were a user or a trafficker, and trafficking carries 8 to 15 years.
No penalty exists for personal use, or for consuming in a public place — the law offers voluntary, free treatment instead (Ley 7786 art. 79). The drug can still be seized. Possession for selling, supplying, transporting, storing or producing: 8 to 15 years' imprisonment (art. 58). Cultivation is written as 6 to 12 years (General Health Law art. 371). No published quantity separates the two, so the line is drawn after you are stopped.
§ SINALEVI (Procuraduría General de la República) — Ley 7786, arts. 58 y 79 (versión vigente 14 de 14; art. 58 cuestionado 15 veces ante la Sala Constitucional, "Norma no afectada" en todas)Verified Oct 1, 2026