Is Crack Cocaine legal in Costa Rica?

Legal status

Crack is the freebase (base) form of cocaine and has no separate legal identity in Costa Rica: it is controlled AS cocaine under Ley 8204 sobre estupefacientes, sustancias psicotropicas, drogas de uso no autorizado y actividades conexas, art. 58, whose scheduling of cocaine reaches its salts, preparations and therefore the base/freebase form. Crack is prohibited identically to cocaine.

Consequences if caught

Article 58: a prison sentence of eight to fifteen years is imposed on anyone who without legal authorisation distributes, trades, supplies, manufactures, elaborates, refines, transforms, extracts, prepares, cultivates, produces, transports, stores or sells the drugs or substances the law covers. Ley 8204 penalises production, distribution and sale; consumption itself is not constituted as a crime and is treated as a public-health matter.

If prescribed or medical

Cocaine has at most narrow controlled medical use; the crack/freebase base has no medicinal preparation and cannot be prescribed. Licit narcotics are dispensed under the Ley 8204 control regime; a prohibited street drug has no prescribable form.

Documentation

No prescription documentation exists for this substance. Carry prescribed medicines in original packaging with the prescription.

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.