Is Caffeine legal in Cuba?

Legal status

Not controlled in Cuba as an illicit drug. Caffeine is not a «droga ilícita» for the purposes of articles 235 to 238. It is a food and medicine ingredient and the Code reaches it nowhere. Cuba operates no national list of controlled substances. The Código Penal creates the offences and names the subject matter only as «drogas ilícitas o sustancias de efectos similares», an undefined term. Across all 470,392 characters of the Code the words estupefaciente and psicotrópico appear zero times, and the only substances named anywhere are cocaína once and Cannabis, conocida por marihuana, twice.

Consequences if caught

Articles 235 to 238 do not apply to it, so no drug penalty attaches. Capital and life exposure. No capital or life exposure arises from this substance as such, because articles 235 to 238 reach only «drogas ilícitas o sustancias de efectos similares» and this is not one. Article 235.2, which carries «privación perpetua de libertad o muerte», is engaged by the drug offences alone.

If prescribed or medical

Article 236 begins «La simple tenencia de drogas ilícitas o sustancias de efectos similares sin la debida autorización o prescripción facultativa», so a substance held under a doctor's prescription is outside the possession offence. Article 237.1(a) punishes the authorised professional who prescribes or administers for purposes other than strictly therapeutic ones.

Documentation

Carry any prescribed medicine in its dispensed packaging with the prescription, because article 236 turns on whether the holder has «la debida autorización o prescripción facultativa». No Cuban traveller allowance was read for this cell, so no quantity is stated.

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