1. What the law is
No quantity threshold exists anywhere in Costa Rica's drug statute. The line between possession for personal use and an eight to fifteen year trafficking offense under article 58 of that statute is a purpose test, applied one case at a time; producing or cultivating drugs carries no such test. Nothing in the statute attaches a criminal penalty to personal consumption. The General Health Law prohibits use without punishing it and allows the substance to be confiscated. Article 79 offers voluntary, free treatment to people using drugs in public places, and calls in the child-protection agency for minors, in private places too.
2. History
The legal events behind this entry, dated and oldest first. Our own reviews and corrections are listed under Changes to this record.
Decriminalized status takes effect.
3. Proposed laws
No proposed law is on file in Costa Rica that would change this entry, as of the 15 Sep 2026 review.
4. Common questions
Is psilocybin legal in Costa Rica?
Psilocybin is decriminalized in Costa Rica.
Are magic mushrooms ("shrooms") legal in Costa Rica?
"Magic mushrooms" and "shrooms" are common names for fungi that contain psilocybin, and this entry states the law on psilocybin itself, which some laws treat separately from the fungus. Psilocybin is decriminalized in Costa Rica.
Read the law
Ley 7786 on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, drugs of unauthorised use and related activities, as rewritten in full by Ley 8204 (in force 11 January 2002): article 58 punishes producing, cultivating, trafficking and selling drugs with eight to fifteen years whatever the purpose, and possession only when it serves one of those activities, so possession turns on purpose and not on quantity. It also reaches anyone who possesses seeds "u otros productos naturales para producir las referidas drogas". No article attaches a criminal penalty to personal consumption. Article 79 provides voluntary, free treatment for people who use drugs on public roads or in publicly accessible places, and a child-protection referral for minors, in private places too. Ley 5395 (General Health Law) article 28 prohibits personal use without a prescription or Ministry authorisation, and articles 137(a) and 359 authorise administrative confiscation. Scheduling: Decreto Ejecutivo 45161-S (17 June 2025, published in Alcance 114 to La Gaceta 166 of 5 September 2025) article 5(c) has the Ministry of Health's Direccion de Drogas y Estupefacientes draw up and update the list of substances officially considered narcotic or psychotropic and publish it on the Ministry's website. That list, updated 10 September 2026, names the compounds psilocibina and psilocina among the psychotropic substances of List I and has no entry for mushrooms.1
Sources
This entry's status is checked against the primary sources below, and the methodology explains how each entry is graded for confidence.
- 1.sinalevi.go.cr (opens in new tab) · sinalevi.go.cr
This entry is for information only and is not legal or medical advice. Laws change, and enforcement can differ from the letter of the law, so check the current position against the primary sources above before relying on it.
Changes to this record
5 changes on file, the latest on . Show allHide
Every change we have made to this record, dated, corrections included. Nothing changes silently.
Costa Rica's official list of controlled substances names the compounds psilocybin and psilocin and has no entry for mushrooms, and this entry now says so.
Costa Rica's drug law is now cited by its correct name, Ley 7786 as rewritten in full by Ley 8204 in 2002, with a link to the current official text. This entry also names the article of the General Health Law that prohibits personal drug use, and now says that growing or producing drugs is punished whatever the purpose, and that the treatment article covers minors in private places as well.
This entry described possession for personal use in Costa Rica as lawful. It is not: the drug statute sets no criminal penalty for it, but the law still treats drug use as illicit. The wording is corrected. The rest of the entry, including the absence of any quantity threshold, was re-checked against the statute and stands.
Costa Rica's entry now cites Ley 8204 itself and dates its effect to 11 January 2002. The rewritten summary explains that the line between lawful possession and trafficking is a purpose test decided case by case rather than a quantity threshold.
Costa Rica's decriminalized status was confirmed: Ley 8204 attaches no penalty to personal consumption. The entry gained the caveat that the statute sets no quantity threshold at all.
Psilocybin Media Group. "Costa Rica: psilocybin legal status." The Psilocybin Record, accession CR-001, version of 15 Sep 2026. https://psilocybinlegalization.com/record/costa-rica