Theo Buissink does not see the so-called ‘weed experiment’ getting off the ground. He argues for full legalization of soft drugs, but doubts whether he will ever see that happen.
Already five years ago (2017) it was decided in the Netherlands to switch to the Closed Coffee Shop Chain Experiment, popularly known as the weed experiment. The aim of this experiment is to see if and how growers decriminalize quality-controlled weed and hashish to coffee shops can deliver. Decriminalization means that the legislation has been amended in such a way that cultivation, distribution and sale within the experiment are no longer punishable.
During this experiment, coffee shops in ten to eleven participating municipalities sell the regulated cannabis. This cannabis is produced by a maximum of ten selected growers. Coffee shops in participating municipalities, of which Groningen is one, are obliged to purchase their goods from one of the ten selected growers.
You would think that everyone is eager to participate and that the experiment cannot start soon enough. This is certainly the case with growers. The chosen growers are allowed to grow cannabis ‘legally’, without being tackled by the judiciary. Now that’s nice growing weed.
Pure opposition
But in many cases these growers encounter problems in arranging a bank account. The banks are hesitant to do business with the growers because of the law to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. Which is bullshit. After all, the growers are legal during the experiment. I see it as pure opposition.
And then of course there are municipalities that are not eager to issue a permit for a location where the cannabis can be produced. Like, for example, the CDA mayor of Veendam and Wildervank, who would rather not have such a weed factory in his municipality, despite the fact that the permit has already been obtained.
It is also a great loss that a really large municipality such as Amsterdam or Rotterdam is missing, which would give the weed trial more weight.
Also unlikely to start in 2023
All in all, enough reasons why the experiment is not getting off the ground. It is already being considered that it will probably not start in 2023 either. Also because there are enough opposing forces at work in The Hague. Those politicians have no interest at all in this proposed weed experiment and will not regret that it keeps being postponed.
And what about the coffee shops? You would think that the coffee shop owners would all be at the front of the queue to participate. That is not true. Many coffee shops in the non-participating municipalities will continue in the current way. And of the coffee shops in the participating municipalities, many do not mind the continued delay of the start of the experiment.
How is that possible? You would think everyone would embrace that experiment. Unfortunately, the practice is different.
Current situation is not that bad
The current situation of the coffee shops is not that bad. Okay, the purchase is illegal, so there is a constant risk of a shop’s stock being confiscated and the coffee shop owner being convicted. But the chances of that actually happening are slim. Although stock from a coffee shop is occasionally confiscated, a small shop owner has long taken this into account and provides a financial buffer to immediately compensate for that lack by making new purchases.
No, what is so nice about the illegal but tolerated situation as it is now is that no VAT is charged on sales. That’s an extra 21 percent in the pockets of the shopkeepers. No VAT, because there is a European treaty that excludes taxing illegal goods.
Every coffee shop must of course submit accurate accounts. Since the cannabis purchase takes place in the illegal circuit, every shop owner can be as creative as he or she wants. There is no need to submit purchase receipts to the tax authorities, because it is illegal. Whether a kilo of weed costs 4000, 6000 or 8000 euros, it cannot be checked.
With receipt of course
I certainly do not want to say that coffee shops are actually guilty of this, but as said, if the experiment were to start, the shops would be obliged to purchase their goods from one of the ten growers, with a receipt of course. This increases the possibility of control and makes creative accounting more difficult.
What the coffee shops also struggle with is that they will no longer be allowed to sell their own product. As a result, they are afraid that they will no longer be able to distinguish themselves with their wares.
Personally, I am in favor of full legalization. Nothing no experiment. In 1974 I participated in the very first demonstration in the world. In Groningen. A tour around the police station. And almost fifty years later it is still not legalized. Would I still experience it before I go to heaven? I have a hard head in it.
Theo Buissink from Groningen is a former co-owner of De Vliegende Hollander and has been an ardent advocate of the legalization of soft drugs since the 1970s