Costa Rica: No Criminal Prosecution For Possession Of Small Amounts of Illegal Drugs

Christmas is coming early for those found with small amounts of illegal drugs in their possession, for the goal of a new program is to minimize criminal prosecution in such cases and reduce costs to the judicial system.

The program is possible by an agreement between the Ministerio Público, Seguridad Pública and the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) - judicial police - to not bring to trial any person found with small amounts. What constitutes a small amount was not disclosed,

Under the plan, prosecutors will treat the carrying of small amounts of drugs as a non criminal offense, unless there is suspicion of trafficking or for there is intent to sell.

The decision to take a tolerant attitude to the problem of possession of drugs in small amounts and most likely for personal use, is that it costs the judicial system ¢307.000 colones to bring each person to trial, which in the majority of the cases ends ups being dismissed for lack of evidence. In 2010 there were 125.000 such cases.

Under the agreement, the drugs will be seized and handed over to a "receiving office" and will become the property of the OIJ, and the suspect released.

In a lot of the cases it is expected that the person will not even have a record of the arrest and/or seizure.