A narrow majority of Dutch parliament members voted to allow the cannabis cultivation, a move that further liberalizes a somewhat cumbersome drug policy where the selling of cannabis is tolerated but buying it abs growing it are illegal. Just 77 MPs out of 150 voted in favor of the proposal brought forward on Tuesday by centrist party D66.
The rule must still pass the Senate, or Eerste Kamer. It is not clear if a majority exists in favor of the law change in the Senate.
Air France-KLM joined the group of the five largest European airlines to lay out regulatory demands to the European Union. The airlines presented their demands as a part of a shared vision for a new EU aviation strategy.
The Dutch government should prevent firms from loaning private equity companies money to use for business acquisitions, PvdA Member of Parliament Henk Nijboer said on Thursday. The Dutch labour party MP announced on Thursday he would submit the initiative to the parliament the following month.
The managing director of football team ADO Den Haag announced his sudden resignation this week with immediate effect after a clash with the team's Chinese backers. For months Maarten Fontein thought he would be allowed to lead the team with the Chinese shareholders at a distance, but it changed suddenly, he commented.
Dozens of mayors in The Netherlands have come together to plead for a regulation of marijuana cultivation. They want to permit sale of the soft drug in coffeeshops, as well as the cultivation. In an interview with de Volkskrant, mayor Paul Depla of Heerlen outs hard criticism on the current cannabis policy in The Cabinet.
The PvdA in the Senate does not agree with Minister Ivo Opstelten's strict soft drugs policy, and will not cooperate on it. Senator Ter Horst wants the Minister to choose one region to test his idea of regulating and certifying marijuana cultivation for coffeeshops, an idea that the Minister has been against in favor of tackling criminality and nuisance instead.
more than 100 party front-runners of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) have spoken out against the marijuana regulation.
Minister Ivo Opstelten (Security and Justice, VVD), is against the idea of regulating marijuana cultivation, favoring the tackling of criminality and nuisance.
Minister of Justice Ivo Opstelten has to investigate what percentage of marijuana cultivation in the Netherlands is being used for export.
