Dutch fear making a hash of cannabis reform
Some worry consumers and small-scale producers will suffer from plan to crack down on black market
Thursday, December 5, 2019
The Netherlands has long been a mecca for buzz-seeking tourists on account of its lax cannabis laws. What many of them don't know is that cannabis is not — and has never been — legal in the country. Instead, under a policy of tolerance known as gedoogbeleid, the Netherlands turns a blind eye to designated coffee shops selling weed — even though it's officially illegal for those shops to purchase cannabis from producers. But this muddled policy will soon change in parts of the country, at least for a while. The Dutch government is launching an experiment in 10 municipalities, starting this January and rolling out over the year, that will allow coffee shops to purchase cannabis from up to 10 state-approved growers, rather than through illicit sources.
