Groningen Begins Cannabis Trial with Legal Weed Sales
Groningen Begins Cannabis Trial with Legal Weed Sales
Participating coffee shops are now selling regulated cannabis to assess its impact on crime and health.
The cannabis trial started this Monday in Groningen, allowing coffee shops to legally buy and sell weed. This trial, which includes ten municipalities, will last for three months. After that, only regulated cannabis will be allowed, and dried cannabis will be banned.
This experiment began last year in Breda and Tilburg, where both regulated and tolerated cannabis sales are allowed. Besides Groningen, the participating municipalities are Zaanstad, Almere, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Voorne aan Zee, Heerlen, and Maastricht. The current phase is called the 'transition phase.' It aims to improve the amount, quality, and variety of regulated cannabis products. Coffee shop owners want to work with multiple cannabis growers to ensure diversity and reduce the risk of illegal street trade.
At first, coffee shops could only hold up to 500 grams of regulated cannabis. This limit was later increased to a week's supply. Political support for the trial varies. The VVD strongly supports it, while the PVV wanted to pause it until a new cabinet is in place, but this idea was rejected. NSC and BBB do not support expanding the trial.
Future Plans
The new cannabis is pre-packaged and well-received by customers. Currently, coffee shops in Groningen can sell both regulated and traditionally sourced cannabis. However, in a few months, they will switch entirely to the regulated supply from the cannabis experiment.
This trial aims to see if selling hemp and hashish can be legalised and to study its effects on crime and public health. As Groningen and other cities continue with the experiment, the results will help decide the future of regulated cannabis in the Netherlands.