Growers doubtful about Dutch gov't plan to start regulated cannabis experiment next year

Five years after the Rutte III Cabinet added the regulated cannabis cultivation experiment to its coalition agreement, the Rutte IV Cabinet plans to start the experiment in the second quarter of next year. But the participating growers called that unfeasible in a letter sent to Ministers Ernst Kuipers of Public Health and Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius of Justice and Security, NRC reports.

In March, the government again postponed the cannabis experiment, which was supposed to start in 2021, to the second quarter of 2023. But the participating growers doubt whether the experiment can launch before the fourth quarter of 2023. Issues that previously caused delays are still not resolved, and they are also encountering new problems, nine of the ten participating growers said in their letter sent to the Cabinet in June.

Some of the growers have still not found a bank willing to give them an account. They again plead with the Ministers to help with this. They are also struggling with high energy prices and increased prices, and long delivery times for building materials. The growers also experience problems with the track & trace system the government set up for the experiment.

The growers told NRC that they miss government control and need more help. According to them, the Cabinet is only focused on rigidly following the rules they set up for the experiment.

The government wants the experiment to show whether cannabis can be legalized in the Netherlands. The goal is to regulate the sale of cannabis to put an end to the illegal supply to coffeeshops. Under the Netherlands’ current tolerance policy, people are allowed to buy cannabis from coffeeshops, and coffeeshops are allowed to sell it. But growing and selling the soft drug to coffeeshops is illegal.

Once the experiment starts, ten selected growers will legally grow cannabis and sell it to coffeeshops in the ten participating municipalities. They are Arnhem, Almere, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Tilburgh, and Zaanstad.

In a response to the growers’ letter, the Ministries of Public Health, Welfare, and Sports and Justice and Security told NRC that they are in talks with the Ministry of Finance about getting bank accounts for growers. However, the Ministries wouldn’t guarantee that growers would actually be able to open a bank account.

The Ministries also said they do not agree with the growers’ criticism of the track & trace system. According to them, a user test showed the system “works and is accessible.” The Ministries said that they are “flexible and proactive where possible,” but cannot deviate from the rules of the experiment because they are laid down in legislation and regulations.

The Ministries will inform parliament about the further planning of the experiment in December.