Amsterdam coffeeshop owner convicted of cannabis possession, but escapes punishment

The Amsterdam Court of Appeals imposed no punishment on a coffeeshop owner caught with 46 kilograms of soft drugs at his home in 2018. The appeals court said it was sympathetic to the man’s argument that the Dutch authorities have left him without a workable method to supply his five licensed coffeeshops. The court did, however, uphold his drug possession conviction.

The police raided the man’s home in April 2018 after receiving a tip naming the suspect and his home address. They found 46.4 kilograms of hemp flowers in a secured room in his home. The suspect said the value of the drugs was roughly 200,000 euros and concerned “trading stock sufficient for several weeks.” The suspect has five licensed coffeeshops, several in Amsterdam and at least one in Mijdrecht.

The District Court for Noord-Holland previously convicted the man on possession of a large quantity of soft drugs stemming from the raid. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, double the prosecutor’s recommendation and one year of probation. The sentencing was overturned, but the Court of Appeals let the conviction stand.

During the appellate procedure, the court wrote, “The suspect appealed on the basis of principle. He explained how various working methods have been developed within his coffeeshops, some in consultation with or at the request of the administrative authority.”

He further argued that the government has not provided “clear and manageable rules” about how to deal with running a legal, permitted retail operation when the cannabis needed for supplying the shops can only be obtained illicitly. The defendant said the OM’s entire decision to prosecute the case should have been thrown out.

The court did not agree on this last point, ruling the OM was indeed allowed to prosecute the man. The ruling noted that “having a large quantity of drugs in a home entails a significant risk due to the allure for criminals. There is also a threat to nearby homes. This is due to the possibility of a mistake by people who may target the supply.” The man did violate the Opium Act by storing the large quantity of drugs at home, the court ruled.

The appeals court added that criminal courts would be wise to consider the “challenges of the backdoor” supply problem and “be cautious about decisions” regarding the issue.

Under the Netherlands’ current tolerance policy, coffeeshops are allowed to sell cannabis to customers, but cultivating the soft drug is prohibited. Additionally, it is not allowed to supply larger quantities of the drug, nor is it permitted legally permissible to maintain the necessary amount to provide to individual customers during working hours. Because of this, coffeeshops buy their stocks through back door connections to illegal growers while the authorities mostly look the other way.

The government launched an experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation after over a decade of political discussions and many delays in December 2023. On Tuesday, the experiment narrowly survived a parliamentary vote to scrap or pause it. The trial, also called the closed coffeeshop chain experiment, is to see whether regulation is a better option than the current backdoor supply.