Tilburg, Breda to start regulated cannabis experiment before year-end: report

The Netherlands’ long-awaited experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation will start in Breda and Tilburg before the end of this year, sources involved told De Telegraaf. The government will make the official announcement after the Council of Ministers on Friday.

In the experiment, coffeeshops in participating municipalities will sell cannabis grown by cultivators appointed by the government. The government wants to try to close the “back door” in its tolerance policy, in which people are allowed to buy and use cannabis from coffeeshops but not allowed to cultivate it. So coffeeshops get their supply through illegal channels.

According to the Telegraaf’s sources, after years of delay, the experiment will officially start in Tilburg and Breda in the fourth quarter of this year. The other participating municipalities can join in the first quarter of next year if the growers are ready and have enough supply.

The Rutte IV Cabinet’s collapse threatened to delay the experiment again. But parliament took the matter off the too-controversial list earlier this week, which means that the caretaker Cabinet can proceed with the plans and don’t have to leave it for the next government.