Central America: Market and legal data for the cannabis sector

28th November 2024: Costa Rica: The Constitutional Court has declared a bill regulating recreational cannabis unconstitutional, press reports. According to the court, the bill conflicts with international treaties signed by the country, such as the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the Vienna Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
28th October 2024: Costa Rica: On 18th October the regulations to law 10113, which regulated the medical and industrial use of cannabis, were published in the Official Gazette. The regulations set rules for cultivation and production licences, authorise magistral preparations, and add a traceability system and recording keeping requirements. The regulations distinguish between non-psychoactive cannabis (with a THC content of less than 1%) and psychoactive cannabis (with a THC content of 1% or more).
24th October 2024: Costa Rica: Pharmacies will start selling the first medical cannabis products in January 2025, press reports. According to Thomas McCullen, executive director of the pharmaceutical company Green Mountain Medical, the range of products available will be broad and will include cannabis flowers, extracts, gummies and cookies.
21st October 2024: Panama: The minister of health, Fernando Boyd Galindo, has said that the implementation of the legal framework for medical cannabis could take place in the coming weeks. He added that all the necessary conditions are being put in place so that the process can be carried out without setbacks, press reports. Medical cannabis was legalised in 2021, but the government has not yet issued licences for its production.
16th October 2024: Panama: A bill to regulate the production, marketing and export of hemp with a maximum of 1% THC was approved in the first debate. The bill will now be discussed in a second debate in the National Assembly.
11th October 2024: Costa Rica: The government has introduced an amendment to law 10066, which regulates e-cigarettes with and without nicotine and heated tobacco. The proposed amendment includes a ban on THC in e-liquids. Other cannabinoids are not specifically mentioned, but in May 2024, the Ministry of Health said it was working on regulations to ban synthetic nicotine and cannabinoids in e-liquids. The bill will now be analysed by the National Assembly.
4th October 2024: Panama: A bill to regulate the production, marketing and export of hemp with a maximum of 1% THC was discussed in the first debate in the National Assembly. The bill was suspended due to the need for amendments and will be brought back for first debate next week.
1st October 2024: Costa Rica: The Constitutional Court ordered the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock to regulate law 10113, which governs the medicinal and industrial use of cannabis, within two months from the notification of the ruling. Despite the law being enacted in March 2022 and requiring regulations to be issued within six months, the process has faced delays due to technical issues and contradictions with Central American regulations. The court upheld an appeal criticising the two-year delay, requiring the ministries to finalise the regulations within the specified timeframe, press reports.
18th July 2024: Costa Rica: President Rodrigo Chaves told press he will not make further moves on the bill to legalise recreational cannabis and that the bill is practically archived. Speaking about the National Assembly archiving the bill, he said: “They have already issued their opinion – they filed it away – am I going to continue being a fool? They have already given their opinion before the people of Costa Rica – let them live with it.”
9th May 2024: Panama: The Ministry of Health has rejected two appeals against the decision to grant licences for the production of medical cannabis. The Evaluation Commission then ratified the selection of seven companies that will be allowed to produce cannabis for medical purposes for a period of ten years. The selected companies received the highest scores and met the established criteria. No more administrative appeals can be lodged.
2nd April 2024: Costa Rica: Government deputy Manuel Morales will ask the minister of the presidency, Natalia Díaz, to call for the discussion of the bill legalising the sale and consumption of recreational cannabis in the next extraordinary session, which will happen in May, press reports. In August 2023, the Environmental Commission voted against the bill, leaving it pending discussion in the plenary. Allegedly, the bill has now been rewritten, and includes suggestions from opposition parties.
1st February 2024: Panama: After granting seven licences for the production of medical cannabis, the Ministry of Health has suspended the granting process by accepting the appeals of three companies that did not comply with the requirements. No time limit has been set for the processing of appeals.

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