An ongoing trial by the Dutch government to regulate the adult-use cannabis industry has been extended to include another 8 cities, taking the total number involved to 10. The trial, initially launched in the cities of Breda and Tilburg in December 2023, was designed to replace the current system of tolerance, which ignores the illegality of soft drug possession.
Gedoogbeleid is the name given to the policy that was installed in 1976 after many years of campaigning by advocates to reduce sanctions for drug possession. The practice of Gedogen, roughly translating to illegal but not illegal has led many people across the world to form the common misconception that cannabis has long been legal in The Netherlands.
Gedogen is flawed, as the production and wholesale of cannabis remained illegal, resulting in a system known as “back door, front door”. Cannabis has traditionally had to be smuggled in the back doors of coffeeshops for retail. Once on the shelves, coffeeshops aren’t hassled by the police for selling to customers who take it out of the front door.
The extension of the ongoing trial now means that producers can legally grow their products and sell to coffee shops without fear of prosecution. The consumer is then able to purchase legal, regulated cannabis from the coffeeshop. Consumers can also be assured of the quality and origin of cannabis products available.
Ashwin Matai, director of cultivation at Holland High Farm, a producer involved in the trial told The Guardian in December that “the product will be clean, tested, pesticide-free.”
The new system, set to be extended to the cities of Groningen, Zaanstad, Almere, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Voorne aan Zee, Heerlen and Maastricht, takes the industry away from the hands of criminal gangs that have a long history of gruesome violence. A recent 6-year-long criminal “mega-trial” recently ended with 17 people being handed sentences of up to life in prison for their role in multiple murders and attempted murders related to wholesale cannabis production, as well as other drug and gang-related activity.
Politicians from the Dutch far-right have recently attempted to put a halt to the cannabis trial, although their motion was defeated in a recent parliamentary vote. The trial is set to last for a further three and a half years.
