Tobacco — Panama

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