Is Alcohol legal in Belize?

Legal status

Alcohol is legal for adults in Belize and is regulated as liquor under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act, Chapter 150, not as a controlled drug. Section 2 of that Act defines «liquor» as «any wine, spirits, ale, porter, cider, perry, liqueurs, cordials and other spirituous or fermented liquor of an intoxicating nature». Section 44(1) provides that «No licence holder shall sell or deliver or allow any person to sell or deliver any description of liquor as defined in section 2 of this Act to any person under eighteen years», and section 44(3A) requires the licence holder or employee to «ascertain and be satisfied that the person is over the age of eighteen years» before selling. Alcohol, ethanol and liquor return nothing in Schedule II of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 103, so section 4 of that Act does not reach it. The Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act read is the Revised Edition 2020, showing the substantive laws as at 31 December 2020. The government portal's Acts listings for 2021 to 2026 carry no amendment to it, and the liquor statutory instruments listed for 2021 to 2026 are licensing board Orders and an amendment of regulation 5 of the licensing Regulations, none of which can amend section 44 of the Act.

Consequences if caught

Drinking is lawful for an adult; the Act's offences are about where and by whom. Section 44A(1) forbids any person to drink liquor on any public road, or in any drain, culvert, street, sidewalk or other public place other than one specified in section 65, and section 44A(2) allows it at a public dance, ball, celebration or entertainment if the liquor is in a plastic, paper or styrofoam receptacle and not in a bottle, glass or metal receptacle; section 44A(3) takes the driver of a motor vehicle out of that allowance. Section 44A(4) punishes a contravention on summary conviction with a fine of twenty five dollars for a first offence, fifty dollars for a second, and one hundred dollars with fifty hours of community service work for a third or later one. Section 44(2) forbids sending a person under eighteen to buy liquor, and section 44(5) makes the section 44 offences strict liability, so a seller cannot defend a sale to a person under eighteen by proving he did not know the age. Section 65A sets the general penalty for an offence under section 44 at a fine of five hundred dollars for a first offence, with three months' suspension for a licence holder, and one thousand dollars for a subsequent offence, with forfeiture of the licence. Drink driving and customs allowances for carrying alcohol into Belize are governed by other instruments, which were not read for this row. Because it is not a controlled drug, the possession offences in section 7(1), section 7(2) and section 7(3) of the Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 103, and the drug trafficking penalties in section 18 do not reach it; the Misuse of Drugs Act 1990, Act 22 of 1990, as UNODC holds it, numbered those penalties section 17, punishment section 27 and the smoking offence, now section 12, section 11. Schedule III, which section 28 applies to every Act offence other than drug trafficking, attaches no punishment to it, and Regulation 4 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations, which lifts the section 5(1) import and export prohibition for Schedules IV and V and the section 7 possession prohibition for a Schedule IV drug in a medicinal product and a Schedule V drug, has nothing to lift. Like every answer drawn from Schedule II, this one would change if an Order made after 31 December 2020 and not listed on the portal had added it. The Act read is the Revised Edition 2020; the 1990 text runs from section 1 and stops inside section 28, and carries none of its Schedules.

If prescribed or medical

No prescription applies. Alcohol is sold under licence under the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act, and the Misuse of Drugs Regulations and the Chemists and Druggists Act Poisons List do not name it.

Documentation

Carry identification if you may be asked your age: section 44(3C) makes it lawful for a licence holder or employee to demand an identity card before selling liquor or admitting a person to a nightclub, malt liquor or publican's special licence premises. For this row the fact to carry is the age of eighteen in section 44 of the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act. Read on 3 October 2026.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Belize’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.