Cannabis production for regulation experiment still not on par

Cannabis production for the coffeeshops participating in the regulated weed experiment is not yet in order. Minister David van Weel (Justice) and State Secretary Vincent Karremans (Prevention) reported this in a letter to parliament on Monday. A longer transition phase is needed to improve production so that coffeeshops in the experiment can ultimately only sell regulated cannabis.

At present, coffeeshops in the ten participating municipalities are allowed to sell regulated and tolerated cannabis. The intention was that they would only sell products from growers designated by the government from September 16. However, the production of these growers does not yet meet all the conditions, which means that they cannot yet fully and continuously supply the coffeeshops.

The government has designated ten growers to supply the coffeeshops in the experiment. Three growers are currently supplying coffeeshops, and two expect to be able to start in August and September. The remaining five expect to be able to supply cannabis in the first half of 2025.

Before coffeeshops can fully switch to regulated cannabis, the growers must meet three conditions: quantity, quality, and diversity. All conditions are lacking. The three growers who are already supplying produce less than expected and four growers have also suffered delays. The quantity of hash, in particular, is lagging behind.

The coffeeshop owners are reasonably satisfied with the quality of the cannabis. However, they do find the quality of the hash “far below par,” the Cabinet members wrote. The diversity of the products is also not up to par, because still only three growers are offering cannabis products.

It is not yet clear when the new phase of the experiment can start. First, it is necessary to know whether more growers will be able to supply soon. Coffeeshop owners also still have to assess the new growers’ products.

The intention is that the growers supply at least 570 kilograms of weed and 160 kilograms of hash per week. In addition, there must also be a minimum stock of 6,800 kilograms of weed and 2,000 kilograms of hash.