MP's very concerned by Big Tobacco's move to buy into Dutch regulated weed experiment
Parliamentarians are alarmed by the news that Altria, formerly Philip Morris, is indirectly trying to buy into the Netherlands’ regulated cannabis cultivation experiment. Multiple parties want the government to try to keep Big Tobacco, with its aggressive marketing and lobbying tactics, out of this trial.
The cannabis experiment runs until 2029. Until then, the coffeeshops in ten participating municipalities are only allowed to buy cannabis from one of ten regulated growers, who must meet strict conditions. De Groene Amsterdammer, Investico, and NU.nl discovered that Altria will soon have a major influence in the biggest of those growers - CanAdelaar from Hellevoetsluis.
The publicly listed Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group is in the process of acquiring CanAdelaar. And cigarette manufacturer Altria is a major shareholder of Cronos Group.
The CDA and PRO, formerly GroenLinks-PvdA, want to know if the Cabinet can stop this acquisition, NOS reports.
PRO supports the cannabis experiment, but is very concerned about the influence a Big Tobacco company could have on it. “An additional risk has been introduced from an investor who does not take the rules very seriously,” MP Lisa Vliegenthart told NOS. “They have shown for years that they conduct aggressive marketing, downplay health risks, and exert influence on science.”
CDA leader Henri Bontenbal shares these concerns. “The fact that a tobacco manufacturer first tries to make everyone addicted to cigarettes and now apparently sees a market in cannabis is not good news for me,” Bontenbal told the broadcaster. “As far as I am concerned, we are going to stop giving the tobacco industry this leeway as soon as possible.” The CDA has always been opposed to the cannabis experiment, but the coalition party agreed in the Jetten I coalition agreement to let it run until 2029.
ChristenUnie has also always opposed the experiment and sees Big Tobacco entering the field as more evidence that it is a bad idea. “Apparently, the government does not have the cannabis experiment properly organized, because the tobacco lobby can buy its way in. We should not promote cannabis through a tobacco producer with a bad track record,” party leader Mirjam Bikker said.
Jan Paternotte, parliamentary leader of the largest coalition party D66, sees no reason to intervene at this time. “I am not a fan of this tobacco company, but am even less of a fan of organized crime,” he told NOS, pointing out that the goal of the cannabis experiment is to see whether organized crime can be removed from the cultivation and sale of this soft drug. “We have tried to ban cannabis for decades. That yielded nothing, which is why we are trying it in a different way now.”
Properly enforcing the rules, including those around marketing and advertising, should keep the experiment on the right track, Patenrotte believes. "They do crazy things in the tobacco industry, so we need to keep a close eye on that. We will succeed, because we have strict rules. I especially hope that those companies will pay taxes in the future if they start selling weed here."
