Chile

Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking of illegal drugs in Chile are severe — convicted offenders can expect jail sentences and heavy fines.

Long prison sentences.

Verified Jul 20, 2026

Cannabis is illegal in Chile and possession is a criminal offence, not a fine - article 4 of Ley 20.000 punishes possessing or carrying even small amounts with imprisonment and a fine of 10 to 40 monthly tax units, and personal use is only a justification you have to persuade a court to accept. Private personal consumption on its own is not punished, but consuming in a public place, or in a private place with a group that arranged to do it, is a separate offence carrying a fine, a compulsory prevention or treatment programme or community service, and suspension of your driving licence for up to six months. There is no legal way to buy cannabis in Chile, and passing some to another person carries the same prison penalty as possession.

Possessing, transporting, keeping or carrying small quantities: presidio menor in its medium to maximum degrees plus a fine of 10 to 40 monthly tax units, unless justified as for medical treatment or for exclusive and imminent personal use (Ley 20.000 art. 4). Acquiring, transferring, supplying or facilitating small quantities for another person to consume carries the same penalty. Unauthorised cultivation: presidio menor in its maximum degree to presidio mayor in its minimum degree plus a fine of 40 to 400 monthly tax units (art. 8). Consuming in public, or in private premises with a group that arranged to do so, and holding or carrying in such places: a fine of 1 to 10 monthly tax units, or a prevention programme of up to 60 days, or treatment or rehabilitation of up to 180 days, or up to 30 hours of community work, plus suspension of the driving licence for up to six months, rising to up to one year on a second offence and up to two years on a third, which the judge may not suspend (art. 50).

Verified Sep 25, 2026

Check with the Chilean health authority (ISP) to confirm your prescription medication is legal, and carry it in original packaging with your prescription.

Verified Jul 20, 2026

You must declare cash or bearer instruments over USD 10,000 (or equivalent) when entering or leaving Chile.

Failing to declare is treated as the crime of smuggling (contrabando) — Customs retains the entire amount on detection.

Verified Jul 20, 2026

Declare all agricultural items on your Chilean customs form when arriving — including packaged food, fruit, seeds, and plants — or you can be detained and heavily fined.

Detention and heavy fines for undeclared agricultural items (Government of Canada).

Verified Jul 20, 2026

Drinking in the street is an offence in Chile, not merely frowned upon: article 25 of Law 19.925 prohibits the consumption of alcoholic drinks in streets, roads, squares, promenades and all other places of public use, and the Carabineros enforce it on the spot. Being found in a public place, or anywhere with free public access, in a manifest state of drunkenness is a separate offence under article 26, and someone caught that way more than three times in one year is reported to the local police court, which can order a treatment or re-education programme. The same Law also inserted article 115 A into the traffic law, which forbids the driver and every passenger from drinking alcohol inside a motor vehicle. Under article 29 no one under 18 may enter a cabaret, cantina, bar or tavern, nor a nightclub where alcohol is sold, and the owner and staff are required to demand an identity document. Licensed premises are supervised by the Carabineros and by municipal and government inspectors, and may only sell alcohol under a municipal patent.

Drinking in a place of public use is punished under article 25 with either a fine of up to one monthly tax unit (UTM) or a warning where the offender has favourable antecedents; the offender may admit the infringement and pay 25 per cent of the maximum fine immediately to the duty officer at the police station. Being drunk in public falls under the same scale through article 26, with repeat behaviour more than three times in a year referred to the local police court for a treatment or re-education measure. A person under 18 found doing either is taken by the Carabineros to the police station or home and handed back to a parent or guardian as a protective measure under article 28.

Verified Oct 12, 2026

Vaping is legal in Chile, but it is banned in the same long list of places as cigarettes, and the fine falls on you personally. Law 19.419 now covers electronic nicotine delivery systems (SEAN), non-nicotine systems (SESN), their vape liquids and all accessories, so under articles 10 and 11 you may not vape in any enclosed space open to the public or in collective commercial use; on public or shared transport, lifts included; at nursery, primary and secondary schools; at fuel stations; where explosives, flammables, medicines or food are made, processed, stored or handled; in sports stands and the whole enclosed perimeter of a stadium; or on sea, river and lake beaches within an 80-metre strip from the high-tide line. At airports and bus terminals, cinemas and theatres, universities, shops open to the public, supermarkets and malls, health facilities, state offices, and pubs, restaurants, nightclubs and casinos, vaping is allowed only in their patios or open-air areas. Sale, offer, distribution or free supply of vapes, e-liquids and accessories to anyone under 18 is prohibited, vending machines are banned, and nicotine e-liquid may not exceed 45 milligrams per millilitre. A therapeutic non-nicotine device escapes the place bans only where there is an imperative medical need and you are carrying the prescription that states its use.

A person who vapes where articles 10 and 11 forbid it is fined 2 monthly tax units (UTM) under article 16, number 12. The owner, director or administrator of the premises is separately fined 2 UTM for each offender under article 16, number 11, unless they can show they told the person to comply or to leave and then reported them. Two or more infringements of the Law within a year count as reincidence and the fine may be doubled. Selling, offering, distributing or giving vapes or e-liquids to a minor is fined 4 UTM under article 16, number 13.

Verified Oct 12, 2026

Chile's indoor smoking ban is total - there is no such thing as an indoor smoking room. Article 10(a) covers every enclosed space open to the public or in collective commercial use and carries no exception at all. Beaches are banned within 80 metres of the high-water line. Bars, restaurants, casinos, airports, cinemas, malls, hospitals and government buildings are outdoor-patio-only. Schools, petrol stations and any premises handling food, medicines, explosives or flammables are banned even in their OPEN-AIR areas. Watch the definition: "enclosed" means a roof OR one or more walls, permanent or temporary - so a covered or wall-adjacent terrace is legally indoors.

Art. 16 N. 12 verbatim: "Multa de 2 unidades tributarias mensuales aplicada a quien contravenga la prohibicion de fumar o inhalar productos de tabaco, SEAN, SESN, y sus liquidos de vapeo, establecida en los articulos 10 y 11." That is 2 UTM FLAT, not a range; the statute allows the doubling of the fine on reincidencia (two or more infractions within a year). CRITICAL DATING POINT: the widely-published figure of "1 a 4 UTM" was correct law ONLY between 2022-02-01 and 2025-05-19 (Ley 21.413); Ley 21.642 reverted it to 2 UTM flat from 2025-05-20, and BCN's own Ley Facil guide is stale on this. Do not publish 1-4 UTM as the smoking fine. The venue is fined SEPARATELY under art. 16 N. 11 - 2 UTM per offending customer - and can only escape by proving it told the smoker to stop or leave AND then reported them to the authority, with "auxilio de la fuerza publica" available; staff therefore have a direct financial incentive to eject and denounce. Enforcement is an administrative sumario sanitario by the health authority (art. 15), and on beaches the maritime, river and lake police enforce as well. Art. 15 also provides that ANY person may report an infringement. The UTM is indexed monthly, so store the 2 UTM and convert at render time rather than freezing a peso figure.

Verified Sep 10, 2026

Visitors can drive in Chile with a valid US license for the duration of their tourist permit (usually 90 days), but rental insurance may not be available in some forms without a Chilean or international driver's license.

Verified Jul 20, 2026

Chile enforces a zero-tolerance policy for drinking and driving — penalties include license suspension, fines, and detention, and driving under the influence can result in incarceration.

License suspension, fines, detention; DUI is severely punished and can mean incarceration (US State Dept).

Verified Jul 20, 2026

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Chile since 2022; there are no legal restrictions on adult same-sex relations or LGB events, though discrimination and violence have been reported.

Verified Jul 20, 2026

Open fires are illegal in Chilean national parks outside permitted camping areas — including cooking burners — and starting one can cost you your tourist permit or get you deported.

Revocation of tourist permit or deportation; criminal penalties and fines if a wildfire results (UK FCDO).

Verified Jul 20, 2026