Netherlands consults businesses on recreational cannabis experiment

The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport opened a public consultation process seeking feedback on the proposed rules for a “controlled cannabis supply chain experiment,” also called wietexperiment (weed experiment) by authorities.

At the end of August, 10 Dutch municipalities with 79 coffee shops were selected to be given access to a legal supply of recreational marijuana for the first time.

The program, though modest in scope and magnitude, will create some business opportunities to supply participating coffee shops.

The online consultation will conclude Nov. 12.

The consultation is specifically targeted at:

  • Potential growers.
  • Coffee shop owners in the participating municipalities.
  • Authorities involved in the experiment.

The draft documentation suggests restrictive packaging with warning signs – intended to be “largely uniform and unattractive” – will be used. The goal is that the packaging will neither encourage nor promote use.

Coffee shops will need to provide an information leaflet containing health warnings with each unit.

The quality requirements appendix includes information on mandatory testing for aflatoxins, heavy metals and microorganisms, which should be absent or below certain levels. The appendix does not include any mention of levels of pesticide residues.

The main document detailing how the experiment would work once launched can be found here.

More information about the recreational cannabis experiment can be found here.