Amsterdam considers growing its own weed

The Mayor and aldermen of Amsterdam are discussing opportunities for potentially regulating cannabis cultivation, even though the Dutch members of parliament voted against allowing municipalities to do so just last week, AT5 reported on Tuesday.  Mayor Eberhart van der Laan has previously said he will keep an open mind to various proposals. A large majority of the city council voted last November to allow the mayor to start preparations for a trial period of marijuana cultivation. Four of the five largest cities in the Netherlands are in favor of such policy. D66 chairman Jan Paternotte is pleased that the discussion continues. "The police had to solve 486 weed nuisances last year. I would prefer that deployment to be somewhere else," he stated. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, supported a CDA motion to block municipalities from growing their own marijuana, which will make it difficult for Amsterdam to get the experiment approved in The Hague. The motion stated that no municipal government should be given room to experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation. However, Paternotte still remains hopeful. "The Mayor promised he would not come back empty handed," D66 chairman told to AT5.