The long-awaited Dutch experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation will start this year in Breda and Tilburg. The cabinet will announce this today.
In the experiment, coffee shops in participating municipalities will sell cannabis grown by growers appointed by the government. The government wants to try to close the 'back door' in its tolerance policy. In the Netherlands it is allowed to cannabis can be bought in coffee shops and used, but cultivation is not allowed. As a result, shops receive their offers through illegal channels.
Stoned with state cannabis
After years of postponement, 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 sufficient supply.
The fall of the Rutte IV cabinet threatened to delay the experiment again. But parliament removed the matter from the too-controversial list earlier this week, meaning the interim cabinet can go ahead with the plans and not have to leave it to the next government.
Source: nltimes.nl (EN)
