Costa Rica: Market and legal data analysis of 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.
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.
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.”
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.
5th September 2023: Costa Rica: The Ministry of Health has issued a warning against the sale and promotion of hemp flowers and other CBD products without public health registration. The authority added that individuals or companies marketing products without public health registration will be subject to administrative and criminal sanctions.
23rd August 2023: Costa Rica: A majority of deputies from the opposition National Liberation (PLN) and New Republic (PNR) parties of the Parliamentary Legislative Commission for the Environment accepted a report recommending the rejection of the government's bill to legalise recreational cannabis, press reports. The final vote is scheduled for next week.
7th July 2023: Costa Rica: The Ministry of Health has issued the first authorisation for the manufacture of hemp-derived products, which include food and cosmetics. The authorisation is valid for a period of six years. The law on hemp for food and industrial use entered into force in March 2022.
4th May 2023: Costa Rica: President Rodrigo Chaves has chosen the bill to legalise sale and consumption of recreational cannabis to be heard in extraordinary sessions of the Legislative Assembly. The bill is one of 48 to be debated by the legislature in the next three months.
7th February 2023: Costa Rica: Following the Executive Branch’s controversial decision to present a bill to legalise the sale of recreational cannabis, the Ministry of Health has proposed that it should be sold in grocery stores and supermarkets, to combat the illegal market, press reports. The bill’s original text proposed sales only in cafes, clubs and dispensaries.

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LATEST ALERTS

Cannabis and cannabinoids in Costa Rica

Near miss in Colombia could have been Latin America’s cannabis breakthrough

Costa Rica to modify recreational cannabis bill in effort to appease critics

Colombia ready to lead Latin America into a more cannabis-friendly future

Regulatory report: Central America, March 2022

Regulatory tracker: current global regulation of recreational cannabis

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Regulatory tracker: current global regulation of CBD, October

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