CBD Status in Costa Rica

CBD products are promoted as safe, natural, and affordable; in Costa Rica and all around the world they have taken the wellness spotlight. Most of the products are marketed as medicinal remedies even though they are not, CBD is a plant-derived compound, but it comes from hemp and not from medical Cannabis. It is critical to make that difference in order to understand what is legal or not in the country.

If you are getting confused, we have you covered. Explaining anything Cannabis-related in the legal field can be tricky, and that is why we created this series to unpack each topic as easy and simple as possible. Remember that we already have two previous blogs:

Hemp and Marijuana Legality

Growing your own Cannabis

CBD is mentioned in both articles, but in this one you will find the answers for all your burning questions: is it legal in Costa Rica? We have the answer for you. Will CBD get you high? We have that too and many more. Here are the facts to get you oriented, take notes or bookmark this link.

What is CBD?

There are hundreds of chemical compounds found in the Cannabis plant, around 70 are referred to as cannabinoids, one being Cannabidiol (CBD). This cannabinoid is derived directly from the hemp plant, which is a cousin of marijuana, but they are not the same. This part is key when it comes to its legality so keep reading.

Will CBD get you “high”?

Straight answer: No. CBD is non-psychoactive. This means there will be no effect on your mind or mental processes. The general recommendation to avoid any psychoactive effect is to consume only CBD products with less than 0.03% THC included in them. THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol is the cannabinoid responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects.

Is CBD legal in Costa Rica?

The fact is that there is no international control for substances with a level below 0.2% THC, just like we mentioned in a previous article, hemp nor marijuana are legal in the country for commercial use. There is no regulation in place yet, but you can still consume and market CBD as long as you follow some guidelines.

Ministry of Health Recommendation

As already stated, there is no regulation in place, and the Ministry of Health has made that clear several times. However, their only recommendation is to check that the products that you are going to get have a valid sanitary license from them, of course.

There are hundreds of products available via Social Media, and many influencers jumped on the wagon as well. We did the search in the Ministry of Health’s website where you can choose the category “alimentos” and key word CBD to check the complete list of hemp-derived CBD products and these are the only brands we found:

1. Brand name: Oils

2. Brand name: Oils and capsules

3. Brand name: Kombucha

4. Brand name: Capsules

5. Brand name: Kombucha

PDF with the Brands that have a valid license

Notice that there are two beverage brands among the oils and capsules, and that is it. Let this sink in, we are trying to paint a picture to compare the amount of products pushed online and the reality of licenses provided by the Ministry.

Lab tests

If you are wondering how those brands get approved by the Ministry of Health if there is no local regulation, well they had to prove that the ingredients on their label are indeed the ones on their products, this process is an extensive one. On the bright side, all CBD products should have their lab tests available for consumers.

Usually you can find a QR code with a link to it, or you can search the brand’s website, but if the lab test is not available, then that is a red flag. What you should be looking for in that document is: check that the lab is indeed a real lab (google it), and then look for the cannabinoids quantities because remember that to avoid the psychoactive effect the THC level should be less than 0.3% even if the product claims to be “pure CBD” it is impossible to separate the cannabinoids. However, you should monitor the level of each cannabinoid that you are consuming, even more so if you take any prescribed drug.

Safe way to use CBD

Regarding this ambiguity in laws or lack of them, the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) states that the legality of CBD depends on “the intended use of the product and how it is labeled and marketed” which is very similar to what happens in Costa Rica. Another identical issue that we have in all the countries where CBD is trending, is that some products are being advertised for therapeutic or medical uses.

Something that we want to highlight today is that CBD products are not medicine nor dietary supplements. The only person who could prescribe (medicine) is a doctor, not a CBD brand representative. Some people are even claiming that their CBD products are made from medicinal cannabis, which is impossible but also not legal in Costa Rica.

Cannabis Bills

There are two bills in the government that wish to regulate the market, Bill 21.388 is being discussed in the CR Congress right now, and it is supposed to be a priority. This law does not include recreational marijuana, on the other hand, we have Bill 22.482 which includes the recreational and personal use of Cannabis.

What about sports?

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) removed the hemp-derived cannabinoid from the list of banned substances, this was in 2018 and from there the nutrition market duly took off.

It will be interesting to see the evolution of Social Media and commercial brands after and if any of these laws get approved, for example last year a few local and renowned athletes started showing their support to certain brands. Some people were shocked when Kenneth Tencio appeared at the Olympics while he has worked with one of the brands listed above.

It is well known that soccer is the most popular sport in the country, and with the rise of CBD products in the market, some men and women from the roster have also supported other less known brands.

I contacted FEDEFUT (Costa Rican Football Association) and asked for their official statement with regard to their athletes promoting such products, and they sent the following:

“The guideline of the Costa Rican Football Federation is to comply with the regulations of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which regulates the use of prohibited substances in sport. We cannot issue a statement without having specific details of the product, since the composition of each one of them is important to assess their use. What is essential is that each player assumes responsibility for the use of these products and their information.”  Gustavo Araya, Secretary-General.

CON (Costa Rican Olympic Committee) was also contacted, but they have not replied to our email yet, we will update the article as soon as they share information.

What is next?

It is pretty clear that Costa Rica is behind in terms of taking advantage of the global opportunity that the regulated-cannabis market represents. Suddenly, CBD is everywhere, and is not a coincidence that other Latin American countries have already approved laws or are in the process of doing so. All eyes are on the possible approval of Bill 21.388 and at Outlier we are committed to keep everyone updated, and we have more content prepared for you stay tuned for the next blog in our Cannabis series.