Panama

Many drugs are illegal in Panama and penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking are severe.

Long jail sentences and heavy fines.

Verified Jul 24, 2026

Cannabis is illegal in Panama for any use other than an official medical prescription, and possessing even a small amount for your own use is a criminal offence. There is no published gram limit you can rely on — Panama's forensic institute decides case by case, after you have been arrested, whether the amount counts as "small". Bringing cannabis into Panama is a separate and much more serious offence, and it applies even if you are only changing planes.

Penal Code article 320: unlawfully buying or possessing drugs for personal consumption in small quantity — 50 to 250 day-fines, or weekend arrest, or community service; where the person is physically or psychologically dependent and the small quantity is shown to be for personal use, a security measure is imposed instead. Article 321: unlawful possession in circumstances objectively showing it is not for consumption — 8 to 12 years' imprisonment. Article 313: introducing drugs into the national territory, even in transit — 10 to 15 years' imprisonment, reduced to 2 to 4 years or the equivalent in day-fines or curative measures where the small quantity and other circumstances unequivocally establish personal consumption. Separately from what the Penal Code provides, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office reports that sentencing in Panama can take up to two years, during which a defendant is likely to be held in detention — a practical warning about process, not a statutory penalty.

Verified Aug 31, 2026

Medication containing pseudoephedrine is banned in Panama; check all medications before travel and carry a valid prescription for controlled medications.

Entry refusal or prosecution possible.

Verified Jul 24, 2026

Do not bring guns or ammunition into Panama without prior permission - and that includes spent shells and empty casings, which travellers carry by accident in range bags and luggage. Bringing them in without permission is illegal and you may be arrested and held for long periods. Panama strictly enforces import and export controls on firearms and ammunition.

You may be arrested and detained for long periods for bringing guns, ammunition, or even spent shells or casings into Panama without permission.

Verified Sep 28, 2026

Panama requires declaration of cash amounts of USD 10,000 or more on both entry and exit.

Verified Jul 24, 2026

Panamanian customs strictly enforces rules on firearms and ammunition, cultural property, endangered wildlife, narcotics, biological material, and food products; contact the Panamanian Embassy for requirements.

Verified Jul 24, 2026

Panama's famous total vape ban is GONE - the Supreme Court struck it down in 2024 - but do not assume vaping is now free. Since 13 August 2025 a Health Ministry resolution bans USING e-cigarettes anywhere tobacco smoking is banned: all public and private offices, public transport and terminals, enclosed public places, restaurants, bars, cinemas, workplaces, schools, hospitals and the common areas of buildings. Heated tobacco (IQOS-type) and oral nicotine pouches like Zyn are expressly covered by the same rule. Sales to under-18s, and all advertising, are banned.

Articulo Segundo states that breach of the resolution is a direct infringement of the guidelines in article 171 of the Codigo Sanitario. Articulo Vigesimo Noveno provides that sanctions are applied "de conformidad a lo establecido en las normativas vigentes del Ministerio de Salud" - NO FINE FIGURE IS STATED ANYWHERE IN THE RESOLUTION and none was invented here. Articulo Vigesimo Cuarto adds that contravening customs rules attracts contraband and customs-fraud penalties, and articulo Vigesimo Octavo provides that confiscated product is destroyed at the infringer's expense. Managers of premises are made responsible for enforcing the ban on their own customers and staff and may call in the National Police (articulo Cuarto, final paragraph).

Verified Sep 11, 2026

Panama bans the CONSUMPTION of tobacco - not just smoking it - in public and private offices at every level of government, all public transport and every land, sea and air terminal, enclosed public places where people gather, the common areas of commercial and residential buildings, enclosed workplaces, and all schools and health facilities. Sports venues are covered whether OPEN-AIR or enclosed. Because the law defines a tobacco product as one meant to be smoked, sucked, chewed or used as snuff, chewing tobacco and snuff are caught too, not only lit cigarettes. Managers of any establishment must enforce this and may call in the National Police.

LEY 13 ITSELF FIXES NO MONETARY AMOUNT - this was checked article by article. Art. 27 supplies only the graduation criteria ("La cuantia de las sanciones que se impongan se graduara teniendo en cuenta el riesgo generado para la salud, la capacidad economica del infractor, la repercusion social de la infraccion, el beneficio que haya reportado al infractor la conducta sancionada, si el afectado es un menor de edad y la reincidencia del infractor"), and art. 29 routes the sanction elsewhere: "Las infracciones a la presente Ley podran ser denunciadas ante las autoridades competentes, por cualquier persona, y seran sancionadas por el Ministerio de Salud, conforme a lo preceptuado en el Codigo Sanitario." So the fine is imposed by the Ministry of Health under the Sanitary Code, and any figure comes from the implementing decree rather than the Act. FLAGGED CONFLICT: the UK FCDO travel advice for Panama states a fine of "25 to 100 US dollars" for smoking where it is not allowed. That band appears NOWHERE in Ley 13 and is not traceable to any article; it may reflect observed practice but should NOT be presented as the legal penalty. Research this run located a graduated ladder in Decreto Ejecutivo 230 de 2008 running from B/.10 upward, but that decree was not read first-hand here and no figure from it is published on this row. Practical expectation for a visitor: a Ministry of Health sanction at the lowest tier, plus ejection by the venue, which is legally obliged to enforce and may call the National Police.

Verified Sep 10, 2026

Using a cell phone while driving and driving while intoxicated or drinking alcohol are illegal in Panama; foreigners may drive on a valid foreign license for 90 days.

Verified Jul 24, 2026

It is illegal to photograph public buildings in Panama; ask an official if unsure, and ask permission before photographing individuals.

Verified Jul 24, 2026

To buy a prepaid SIM in Panama you must be registered: the operator has to capture an image of your passport (or Panamanian ID card) and a photo of your face, and run a biometric liveness check, before the line can be activated. There is no tourist exemption, and a prepaid line whose holder is not registered counts as unauthorised service and must be suspended. Better news for walkie-talkies: Panama's free-use table DOES include the US FRS/GMRS channels at 462 and 467 MHz, so handhelds brought from home need no licence, concession or authorisation. But the Panamanian power caps are lower than the US ones — 0.5 W on the narrow 12.5 kHz channels and 5 W on the wide 25 kHz ones — and repeaters and base stations are not permitted at all.

A prepaid line whose holder is not registered is treated as "servicio no autorizado" and the operator must suspend it immediately (ASEP Res. AN No. 18397-Telco, TERCERO, applying Ley 31 de 1996 art. 43 num. 2). Separately, causing interference to telecommunications services is an infraction under Ley 31 de 1996 art. 56 num. 3, fined under Decreto Ejecutivo 73 de 1997 arts. 304-306 on a scale from B/.1,000 up to B/.1,000,000 depending on which class of service is affected (the balboa is at par with the US dollar), and equipment in use without proper identification is subject to immediate preventive seizure under art. 85.

Verified Sep 14, 2026

Same-sex relationships are legal in Panama but same-sex marriages are not recognized; there is no anti-discrimination law, society is socially conservative, and public displays of affection are best avoided.

Verified Jul 24, 2026

It is illegal for foreigners to take part in political demonstrations or protests in Panama.

Arrest and possible deportation.

Verified Jul 24, 2026