Presidential elections in Costa Rica are scheduled for February 1, 2026, and we’re looking at quite a broad landscape. Amid fragmentation and indecision, Costa Ricans will have to choose from a vast array of candidates. Some of them have publicly stated their positions on cannabis legalization. Since 2022, Law 10.113 has been in effect, regulating weed exclusively for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. This law also authorizes the food and industrial use of hemp. However, recreational or adult use remains illegal in the country, and the Narcotics Law still criminalizes personal possession. Now, following recent attempts to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana, the issue has returned to the public spotlight.
According to data from the Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, an agency attached to the Costa Rican Ministry of Health, a survey on psychoactive substances shows that pot use has been increasing since 1990. “Whether we like it or not, that is a reality we cannot deny,” says Juan Carlos Hidalgo, candidate for the Social Christian Unity Party.
“Cannabis use exists in Costa Rica, but prohibiting its sale leads to demonization by some sectors, and the discussion remains dominated by criminalization. There is no secular, scientific, and non-moralistic educational policy regarding cannabis use, so the context is still slow,” adds David Hernández Brenes, candidate for the Working Class Party.
Lately, there has been an increasing police pressure and security operations have focused on confiscation. “The user is often criminalized. Use is not prohibited; its sale and cultivation are,” notes Ariel Robles Barrantes, a candidate for the Broad Front.
Now, what do the candidates who have taken a public stance actually propose? “Adult use cannabis, or other soft drugs, should be a personal decision in which state action has allowed each person to decide on their use in an informed, scientific, and secular manner, without …
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Author: Hernán Panessi / High Times
