In this model, the profit is not used for commercial purposes, but invested in social projects. This can be about initiatives that help to better regulate cannabis use, protect young people against hard drugs and support broader social goals, such as food banks, cultural associations and care for the disabled. A two -headed board and a supervisory board must ensure that the money is in the right places. The staff of the coffee shop does not work on a voluntary basis, but receives a salary that is paid from the proceeds from the sale.
Where does the weed come from?
What is not yet clear is exactly where the stock of cannabis should come from. Meij hopes to get the stock through legal growers. He is referring to the national weed test, whereby production, distribution and sale of cannabis is regulated by the government. In this experiment, selected coffee shops may sell legally grown weed from June last year. Because there is not enough legal offer to provide the selected coffee shops, the shops may also be theirs for the time being Identify illegal ‘back door cannabis’.
If it is not possible to obtain the stock via a legal grower, councilor Meij is open to buy weed through an illegal supplier. “That’s how it works,” he says. Testing and samples must then guarantee the quality of the cannabis. It is also unclear where the coffee shop should go. “Monnickendam is of course obvious,” says the born Monnickendammer. “But you don’t have to.”