Costa Rica
North America
#30 of 196 worldwide
#13 of 23 in North America
Personal use is not penalised. A 2022 law legalised medical cannabis and hemp.
Score breakdown ▏world average
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Possession · 25%3/10adds 7.5 of 25 points
The drug law punishes production and trafficking, not personal use, so possessing a small amount for your own consumption carries no criminal penalty. The law never defines 'small', leaving it to police and prosecutors, and the cannabis is confiscated.
Personal cultivation · 25%1/10adds 2.5 of 25 points
Not legal. The law does not say whether growing for yourself is allowed, and provisions that would have let patients grow a few plants were removed from the 2022 medical law before it passed. Courts have occasionally acquitted small home growers.
Punishment & enforcement · 20%4/10adds 8.0 of 20 points
Users are not prosecuted. Trafficking and cultivation carry eight to fifteen years in prison.
Sharing & gifting · 10%1/10adds 1.0 of 10 points
Any supply to another person is trafficking.
Consumption · 10%3/10adds 3.0 of 10 points
Personal use is not punished. Smoking in public can lead to confiscation and police intervention but not criminal charges.
Legal access · 10%1/10adds 1.0 of 10 points
No legal adult-use source of any kind. A government bill to regulate recreational sales was presented but not approved.
More context not part of the score
Law 10113 of March 2022 created licences for medicinal cannabis cultivation and processing, and freed hemp for food and industrial use.
Hemp and CBD products, and medicinal products under the 2022 law.
Legal since 2022 on prescription, with licensed production and pharmacy dispensing. The market is still small.
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