Smoking marijuana in public places would be prohibited by the General Law on Control of Tobacco and its harmful effects on health. The punished would be a fine of 10% of a base salary, according to the new draft text which seeks to legalize the medicinal use of the plant.
Said places are: health care centers and hospitals, workplaces, centers and dependencies of public administrations, schools, social care centers, except for open spaces in penitentiary centers, shopping malls, casinos, nightclubs, discos, bars and restaurants, sports facilities, and places where entertainment and recreational activities of any kind are developed, elevators, telephone booths and ATMs, paid transport vehicles, ambulances, cable cars, trains and aircraft, cultural centers, cinemas, theaters, reading rooms, exhibition, libraries, conference rooms, auditoriums and museums, ports, airports, bus and taxi stops.
In addition, the State would revoke the ID card registration of any patient found intentionally violating the ban for one year.
The project, which is pending in the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Legislative Assembly, also includes a fine of 100% of a base salary to those leaders of public institutions that allow smoking marijuana in the banned sites.
The same penalties apply to those who sell or supply cannabis or hemp products in quantities greater than those indicated in the prescription.
The bill also sets a fine of 20 basic salaries for those who reproduce cannabis seeds and hemp without authorization, and for those who sell or supply products to people without proper medical prescription.
The fines would be collected by the Costa Rican Institute of Research, Regulation and Control of Cannabis Hemp (ICIRCCA) and would be used for the law’s enforcement.
The initiative would regulate the planting, cultivation, harvesting, production, processing, storage, distribution, marketing, export, transport, sale, use and consumption of marijuana.
The tax rate applied would be the one charged for legal person’s income, plus an additional 7%.
The substitute text was to be voted on Tuesday in the Committee on Legal Affairs, but it was not possible because legislator Óscar López, from the Accessibility without Exclusion Party (PASE), asked for a full reading of the report.