The cabinet wants to continue with the cannabis experiment in which hemp is grown and sold under the supervision of the state. But the favorite project of the ruling party D66 is struggling with a variety of headaches.
three years after the announcement of the plans the project appears to have failed miserably, according to a letter to the Lower House of the cabinet.
That means – at least that is what is trying to get off the ground – in which the entire cannabis trade in ten municipalities will be under state supervision. The hope, especially from D66, is that this will reduce the role of criminals and make ‘healthier’ weed available.
But since the trial has been designed, problems have been piling up. For example, many municipalities did not want to participate, others are even against it and it appears that no large city has yet been found that wants to participate in the trial, which should last 4 years.
Not off the ground anymore
The problems are now so great that the start of the project has to be postponed again. This year it won’t get off the ground. “Unfortunately, it has now become apparent that starting in 2022 is no longer realistic,” Ministers Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) and Dilan Yesilgöz (Justice) wrote to the House of Representatives. They estimate that a start can be made in the ‘second quarter’ of 2023 at the most.
The problem is first of all that no large city can be found to participate, while according to researchers this is a precondition for getting good comparison results with the current situation. But more than the ‘interest’ of the G4 municipalities has been ‘polled’, it seems that nothing has happened yet.
Bumpy
Also, not enough cannabis growers have been found who want to participate. Eight have been designated, but the ‘ninth and tenth’ are still missing. But perhaps even worse: the growers who do participate run into problems. For example, a ‘number’ of them ‘have problems getting’ a location. Growers are also unable to open a bank account, because banks are afraid of being prosecuted for aiding money laundering and financing terrorism. The cabinet hopes to be able to lobby in this regard, but so far without result.
The ministers in their letter: “The road to the start appears to be bumpy.”
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