Regulated cultivated cannabis experiment delayed again; Could start in 2024

Health Minister Ernst Kuipers said that the experiment in regulated cultivated cannabis will be postponed again. He expects that "as it stands now" only legally produced cannabis will be able to be sold in coffeeshops in eleven municipalities in 2024, and that it is not possible to launch the project during the second quarter of 2023 as previously announced. He does want to try to begin with a "start-up phase" in a smaller number of municipalities.

According to the minister, the implementation of the cannabis experiment is "extremely complicated" and he understood that to be the reason why it has been postponed several times. The first hurdle is the paperwork: arranging locations, obtaining permits and arranging a banking license has turned out to be very complex.

After that, it must also be ensured that there is enough variety in the cannabis supplied to coffee shops, that it is consistently of good quality and that there is sufficient supply. Otherwise, customers will opt for other coffeeshops, Kuipers fears. The investment costs for those growing the cannabis have also increased "exponentially," according to the minister. This is due to inflation and increased construction and energy costs.

According to the minister, one grower is already legally producing cannabis, but he informed them that it is not enough to start the experiment. "That is of no use to anyone at all: not the grower, not the municipality, not the coffeeshop owner and not the customer either," said the minister.

In the Cabinet's coalition agreement, the government intends to adopt a position on the legalization of cannabis in 2024. Due to the postponement of the experiment, the research report on this will not be ready in by the end of 2024. That is why Kuipers and Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz will look over the situation and draw whatever conclusions they can on the basis of the information available at that time, they wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer.

National politicians have been talking about a regulated cannabis experiment for over ten years. Initially, the trial project was to start in the autumn of 2021, but it has since been postponed several times. Cannabis is now purchased wholesale illegally from the back door of coffeeshops, resulting in crime, nuisance and health problems.