Due to the current laws restricting farmers in the Netherlands to grow and maintain crops of medicinal weed, Dutch farmers are missing out on billions. Farmers and growers are concerned they have a competitive disadvantage.
A majority city council vote from the Westland, the prominent farming region of the Netherlands, is pushing for the ability to grow medicinal weed in Westland greenhouses. It is fair to say that legislation on medicinal weed is going forward, not backward. Irritated Dutch growers claim they are losing out to international competitors due to lagging politicians. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Dutch councils call for better cannabis laws.
The Netherlands is already a world leader in agriculture, and the Dutch put weed on the map due to its relaxed distribution policy in coffee shops around the country in the past. Growers in the Westland are concerned they are losing out on tens of billions of euros annually. Legal weed, as an industry, will be worth an estimated $31 billion industry by 2021.
Canada and UK profiting from medicinal weed
Countries like Canada are boldly moving forward on weed legislation. Before legalizing recreational use of the plant, the Canadian government’s statisticians reported profits of 5.6 billion. These are the profits before recreational weed buyers enter the market.
Has the Netherlands encouraged the growing of medicinal weed? Kind of. The OMC (Office of Medical Cannabis) has a monopoly on the import, export, and distribution of weed in the Netherlands. In 2018 they published a tender that Dutch growers such as Ridder could apply to.
The same goes for the United Kingdom, who (years ago) grew 95 tonnes of weed for medicinal and research purposes. The profits being made by these countries is the envy of the Netherlands’ Westland farmers. The Netherlands has always been farming for the future, so why are we missing out on the future of medicinal weed?
Ninety five tonnes of marijuana was produced in the UK in 2016 for medicinal and scientific use, accounting for 44.9 percent of the world total, its International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) found.
I can imagine with demand this figure will be BILLIONS today. pic.twitter.com/owIAbHQYnh
— A Brown (@_Casper2019) February 14, 2019
Medicinal Weed, why not the Netherlands?
Once upon a time the Netherlands was synonymous with weed and considered a dank oasis in a world not yet ready for the substance. With demand increasing globally and promising research into the plant’s medicinal benefits, the Netherlands is losing its foothold on the industry it once ruled.
A slew of media outlets last year noticed the shrinking window of opportunity for the Netherlands to maintain global dominance in the medicinal weed industry. Highlighting growers movements, whether it be Dutch weed growers moving to Canada or some other country further down the road with their policy on weed. Notably, Canada was the first large-scale economy to legalize recreational weed and reap its economic stimulation.
Meanwhile, Canada and the UK are benefiting from Dutch growing expertise and yield massive crops of medicinal weed. This strengthens their economy by tens of billions and growers receive healthy profits to continue their work. Medicana Westland continues to promote the health benefits of products such as CBD oil and medicinal weed. “Thanks to conformism and statism we get zero opportunity, people are PISSED!”, Medicana Westland.
What do you think, are the farmers being given a raw deal by a government that has historically growing and perfecting weed? Do you know someone that would benefit from medicinal weed? Leave a comment on our Facebook page!