How to Read a Medical Cannabis Label in Costa Rica
A cannabis product label carries the information you need to dose safely. Learning to read it is one of the most useful practical skills a medical cannabis patient can develop.
This guide explains what the numbers mean and how Costa Rica's regulatory framework governs what appears on the package.
The regulatory background
Costa Rica legalised cannabis for medical and therapeutic use through Ley N.º 10113, the Law on Cannabis for Medicinal and Therapeutic Use and Hemp for Food and Industrial Use, adopted in March 2022.
The technical detail took longer. In February 2025 the Executive Branch published Decreto Ejecutivo N.º 44917-S, which enacts Reglamento Técnico RTCR 515:2024, covering administrative provisions, sanitary registration, labelling, specifications, control, and advertising for cannabis-based medicinal products. It entered into force on 22 June 2025.
Under this framework:
- Sanitary registration is processed through the Ministry of Health's Regístrelo platform, and a registration is valid for five years.
- The products that can currently be registered are dried cannabis products, meaning dried and packaged flower and inflorescences, and dosage-form products such as tablets, capsules, creams, and oral liquids. Sterile pharmaceutical forms are not registrable at this stage.
- Once registered and approved, these products can be dispensed at pharmacies with a digital medical prescription.
- The Ministry of Health has indicated that a further regulation covering therapeutic cannabis products is being prepared for public consultation.
The practical significance for you as a patient is that a registered product has been through a defined quality, safety, and labelling process. An unregistered product has not, whatever its packaging claims.
The two numbers that matter most
THC is the intoxicating cannabinoid. It carries much of the analgesic effect but is also responsible for feeling high, for impairment, and for most dose-related side effects such as anxiety, rapid heartbeat, and dizziness.
CBD is non-intoxicating. It has its own effects on the body and may moderate some of THC's.
These are usually expressed in one of two ways.
For dried flower, content is typically given as a percentage or in milligrams per gram. Ten percent THC is the same as 100 mg of THC per gram of dried material.
For oils, tinctures, capsules, and other dosage forms, content is given in milligrams — either per millilitre, per drop, per capsule, or per container. This is the more useful format because it lets you calculate an actual dose.
Working out your dose
The most common dosing error we see comes from confusing concentration with dose.
If a 30 ml bottle of oil is labelled 600 mg CBD, that is the total in the bottle. Per millilitre it contains 20 mg. If the dropper delivers 1 ml over roughly 20 drops, each drop is about 1 mg. A "5 mg" dose is therefore around five drops, not five millilitres — a hundredfold difference, and precisely the kind of mistake that produces a frightening first experience.
Read carefully whether a figure refers to the whole container, a millilitre, or a single unit. If the label is ambiguous, ask your pharmacist or your CVCC physician rather than estimating.
Ratios
Some products describe a THC to CBD ratio, such as 1:1 or 1:20. A ratio tells you the balance between the two cannabinoids but says nothing about the strength. A 1:1 product could be 2 mg of each or 20 mg of each. Always look for the absolute milligram figures alongside the ratio.
Other label elements to check
- Batch or lot number, which allows the product to be traced if there is a quality issue
- Expiry date, since cannabinoid content degrades over time
- Manufacturer and country of origin
- Sanitary registration number, confirming the product went through the Ministry of Health process
- Storage instructions, as heat and light accelerate degradation
- Full ingredient list, including carrier oils, which matters if you have allergies
- Route of administration, since a product intended for topical use should not be swallowed
Certificates of analysis
Many manufacturers publish a certificate of analysis for each batch, giving laboratory-verified cannabinoid content and screening for contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, solvents, and microbes. Where one is available, it is more reliable than the marketing on the front of the box.
Note that Costa Rica's Ministry of Health has issued guidance on cannabinoid quantification methods in the context of limited accredited laboratory capacity, so testing practices are still maturing. If a product has no batch testing information at all, treat that as a meaningful gap.
Products bought outside the regulated channel
Cannabis products sold outside the registered, pharmacy-dispensed channel are not subject to RTCR 515 controls. Independent testing internationally has repeatedly found unregulated products whose actual cannabinoid content differs substantially from the label, and some contaminated with pesticides, solvents, or microorganisms.
If you are taking something for a medical reason, you need to know what is in it. That is not a slogan — it is the difference between a treatment and a guess.
Bring your product to your appointment
The single most useful thing you can do is bring the actual packaging, or a clear photograph of the label, to your consultation. It lets your physician calculate your real dose rather than working from an approximation.
Talk to us
If you are unsure how to interpret a label or how much you are actually taking, book a telehealth consultation and we will work through it with you.
This article is for general education and does not constitute legal or individual medical advice. Regulations change; confirm current requirements with the Ministerio de Salud or a qualified professional.
Sources: Ministerio de Salud de Costa Rica, "Registro de Productos Medicinales a Base de Cannabis" and "Costa Rica inicia registro de productos medicinales a base de cannabis con THC" (June 2025), both published under a CC BY licence; Decreto Ejecutivo N.º 44917-S / RTCR 515:2024; Ley N.º 10113.