Dutch Cannabis Legalization Pilot project to Start this Week
The Netherlands Launches Cannabis Legalization Pilot Project with Closed-Chain Experiment.
For decades, “coffee shops” in the Netherlands have operated under a system in which the sale of cannabis was legally tolerated, but its cultivation was prohibited. In practice, this meant that consumers had no way of knowing where, by whom, when and under what conditions the cannabis they bought from the coffee shop was grown. Legally produced cannabis will come in a package with a QR code.
A cannabis legalization pilot project is about to start in the Netherlands. The Dutch government has decided that the preparatory phase of a closed-chain experiment in supplying cannabis from legal cultivation to coffee shops will begin on December 15th, 2023.
The latest schedule shows that two legal producers will be ready to supply coffee shops in the fourth quarter of 2023. This will be enough to be able to start the preparatory phase of the pilot program in Breda and Tilburg.
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Cannabis legalization pilot project to start in Breda and Tilburg
During this phase, coffee shops in Breda and Tilburg participating in the pilot program will be able to offer both legally produced and tolerated products, i.e. droughts from the black market. Two more producers are expected to begin supplying coffee shops in Breda and Tilburg in February 2024.
The preparatory phase initiative was introduced by the mayors of Breda and Tilburg, and was approved by Health, Welfare and Sports Minister Ernst Kuipers and Justice and Security Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius to begin a small-scale “experiment with legalized production and sales chain.”
This will allow gaining experience with a closed supply chain and all the processes involved. Progress in the preparatory phase will be monitored.
If public order or security is seriously threatened, the preparatory phase will be terminated prematurely. Lessons learned will be presented to all participating cities and used to improve processes and systems for a smooth transition to the next phase, reports rijksoverheid.nl.
The preparatory phase is expected to last a maximum of six months. The transition phase will then begin. It is expected that all participating cities will be able to start the transition phase at the end of the first quarter of 2024 at the earliest. During this phase, coffee shops in participating cities will be able to offer legally grown and black market products.
Six weeks after the start of the transition phase, the actual experimental phase will begin
Participating coffee shop owners will from then on be able to sell only cannabis from regulated crops.
For decades, “coffee shops” in the Netherlands have operated under a system in which the sale of cannabis was legally tolerated, but its cultivation was prohibited. In practice, this meant that consumers had no way of knowing where, by whom, when and under what conditions the cannabis they bought from the coffee shop was grown.
Legally produced cannabis will come in a package with a QR code, which will allow consumers to access information about, among other things, where and when the product was grown and by which company. The experiment will last four years, at which time a decision will be made on whether it will be extended.
