As the United States and Canada are relaxing their cannabis laws, the Dutch city councils and mayors are calling for better and deregulated cannabis laws in the Netherlands in 2018
A call for regulated cannabis production in the Netherlands
At the end of the last year, around 25 municipalities out of 380 local authorities have signed up for a new experiment on regulated cannabis production in the Netherlands.
This is the year when 8 – 10 municipalities will have the chance to regulate the cannabis cultivation within their regions, as part of a trial run by Rutte III’s government. Breda, Rotterdam and Eindhoven are some of the cities to come forward and work with the government in creating new cannabis laws in the Netherlands.
For more reading about the current status of drug policy and marijuana laws in the Netherlands I’ll suggest reading this one or this article on weed in the Netherlands
Proposed models for new cannabis laws in the Netherlands
There are a few proposed models for this part of the drug policy in the Netherlands. Let’s have a look at the suggested marijuana policy by the Dutch:
#1 Medical institutions will sell to coffee shops
One model is that the cannabis is mass produced by medical institutions or other companies. This is sold in the coffee shops (so no guys, you can’t be the growers).
#2 Coffee shops will close and cannabis will be distributed online or in vending machines
Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam said that he has spoke with Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Secretary about joining the experiment. He was one of the first mayors to do so. Aboutaleb spoke about whether the phenomenon of the coffee shop will eventually die out and that other forms of distribution will be better. His examples were buying from a vending machine, or ordering online. This is one model which could be discussed.
#2 Social Cannabis Clubs
Another, is that people who are enrolled in a Social Cannabis Club can produce the cannabis. This has already been the idea behind the cannabis laws in the Netherlands for the past few years, but the idea never really took off.
#3 Coffeeshops in the Netherlands
An alternative model is that the coffee shops themselves are purely responsible for both production and distribution.
#4 Legalisation of cannabis in the Netherlands
A complete legalisation of all things marijuana is always being talked about, but it will never happen. Could you just imagine the marijuana invested themepark Amsterdam will become? It’s already quite bad. So for those hoping for that to happen, keep on smoking.
Anyway, it is early days in the process, and the government wants to access every proposal in order to make a informed decision on what’s next. So it’s not too late to sign yourselves up. I joke, I joke.
A number of companies have already come forward to muncipalities to say that they have the capabilities to produce the cannabis. These are especially argricultural companies, as they have both the space, and the spare heat to cultivate the cannabis. However, these companies are not coming out publicly, until the trials are officially launched, out of fear of damaging public relations.
What are the current cannabis laws in the Netherlands
It still stands that cannabis is decriminalized for purchasing small amounts from a coffee shop. However it is still illegal to cultivate the cannabis. This results in a grey area with where the coffee shops are purchasing their cannabis from. You can’t be sure where the cannabis comes from, or how good the quality is. As a result, these trials seemed like a postitive step forward for Dutch drug policy.
It is hoped that these policy changes will help stamp out drug gangs as drug gangs are the reason why licensed production is warranted and the local authorities have been calling for it for years. This change means that regulated cannabis cultivation may be the future for the Netherlands.
According to latest figures, the police dismantled 16 plantations a day in, which is 5,856 over a day. But police say that this figure is a lot lower than the total.
That’s a heck of a lot of cannabis!
So what do you think how cannabis laws in the Netherlands should look like?
Feel free to pitch in at the comment section!
I mean if only mass producers could produce enough to fill the demand maybe selective competition will drive the price down and boost the quality of what get’s sold.
I like the idea that coffee shops are going to be involved. Such a good idea that I never would have considered.
I was not aware that cultivating cannabis was still illegal in the Netherlands, very informative article
Thank you for sharing! This topic is so interesting, but also hard to find information on! Really great points I didn’t think of before.
Coffee shops getting involved is very interesting! Also curious to see what a weed vending machine would look like! Good push in the right direction! Thanks for the read!
Use in coffee shops is very interesting. Think its a great idea though and going to be a hit! I would love to see a weed vending machine.
It’s good that Netherlands is considering legalizing! I love the idea of using coffee shops or vending machines to dispense.
I love how open the Netherlands is about their cannabis usage and laws, unlike here in the US were it is still a taboo subject for many people.
Its interesting learning about cannabis laws in the Netherlands and the coffee shop idea is really interesting as well.
A cannabis vending machine! Wow. The Coffee shop idea is really interesting. I think that that would bring sooo much business