Cannabis in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico allows medical cannabis and nothing else. Governor Alejandro García Padilla opened the door by executive order in 2015, and Act 42-2017, signed on July 9, 2017, turned it into a licensing system. A nine-member Medical Cannabis Regulatory Board, the Junta Reglamentadora de Cannabis Medicinal (JRCM), sits under the Department of Health and licenses five kinds of business: cultivation, manufacturing, dispensing, laboratories and transportation. Sites must be at least 100 meters from schools and care centers, dispensaries may not allow consumption on the premises, and people under 21 may not enter them.

Only physicians authorized by the program may recommend medical cannabis, and they cannot profit from the industry or hold a cannabis license. The Health Department told the Senate Health Commission that the program had 110,548 active patients on June 17, 2026, down about 11% from a peak of 124,592 in July 2022, with 63 authorized physicians. Anxiety disorders, insomnia and chronic pain are the most common conditions. The board notified $345,000 in administrative fines to licensed establishments in fiscal year 2025-2026. Smoking is prohibited: the law allows only non-smokable preparations, and use is limited to homes and private places.

There is no adult-use market. Under the controlled-substances law of 1971, possession outside the medical program is a felony on paper, with two to five years and a fine of up to $5,000 for a first offense, according to NORML. A 2015 executive order advised judges not to imprison people caught with fewer than six grams, but that is guidance, not decriminalization.

Visitors are the gray zone. Mainland medical cards are not recognized, and commercial services describe temporary Puerto Rico registrations of 30 to 90 days issued through telehealth physicians; Verdex could not confirm the procedure with the Health Department. Cannabis cannot leave the island, because airports and waters are federal territory. This page is general information, not legal advice.