Is Barbiturates legal in Costa Rica?

Legal status

Barbiturates are a pharmacological family whose members sit in different convention schedules, so Ley 8204 returns no single schedule answer under that name. A yes or no in one line would collapse products the law treats differently. Article 1 of Ley 8204 reaches substances "incluidos en la Convencion Unica sobre Estupefacientes de las Naciones Unidas, de 30 de mayo de 1961" and in "el Convenio de Viena sobre Sustancias Psicotropicas, de 21 de febrero de 1971", so the convention schedules operate as the national list by incorporation rather than by re-enactment. Control therefore follows whatever constituent is actually present, and every constituent this site covers is answered on its own page.

Consequences if caught

No offence follows from the name alone, and a proved constituent carries the full exposure. Article 58 provides "Se impondra pena de prision de ocho a quince anos a quien, sin autorizacion legal, distribuya, comercie, suministre, fabrique, elabore, refine, transforme, extraiga, prepare, cultive, produzca, transporte, almacene o venda las drogas", which is eight to fifteen years for unauthorised distribution, commerce, supply, manufacture, processing, extraction, preparation, cultivation, production, transport, storage or sale, and the same range for possession for any of those purposes. The article states no numerical weight threshold: the trigger is an unauthorised listed act, or possession for one of those purposes, and never a quantity. Article 77 raises the range to "de ocho a veinte anos" where an enumerated aggravating circumstance is present, so twenty years is the ceiling this Act identifies, and Costa Rica provides no death penalty for any drug offence.

If prescribed or medical

No single prescription answer attaches to the name. Where a constituent is itself a scheduled medicine, that constituent's own authorisation requirement applies, and the opening words of article 58, «sin autorizacion legal», are what separate lawful supply from an offence.

Documentation

Carry nothing on the strength of the category name, because the category is not what the law reads. Identify the constituent actually present and carry its prescription and dispensing label if it has one. Costa Rica was checked on 18 September 2026 and Barbiturates are still a pharmacological family whose members sit in different convention schedules at that date.

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