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Many countries, one plant: Netherlands


darko.gh

This article is the fourth in a series that investigates and exposes the situation of the cannabis plant in different countries around the world. Working as a manager for Green House Seed Company I had the chance of travelling to quite a number of destinations worldwide, and after many years of experiencing firsthand the ups and downs of many places, it is with great pleasure and pride that I am sharing this information with all Canamo readers. This month we have a look at

The Netherlands

and we close the focus on Europe. In the next months I will start writing about Africa (Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Mauritius), and some of the Caribbean islands (Jamaica, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados & St. Vincent).

In The Netherlands cannabis can be very popular, or very unpopular, depending on the political and social views of the individual in question. Nevertheless, cannabis is officially tolerated, and this is a very special status. It is very important to specify the difference between legal and tolerated, because most tourists coming to Holland think cannabis is legal, while it is not.

The Netherlands signed the 1961 United Nations treaty on drugs (including cannabis), so it is not possible for the Dutch to completely legalize the status of the cannabis plant. International laws forbid governments from making profits from sales of illegal substances, so the Dutch cannot legalize the cultivation of cannabis for recreational purposes. What they do instead is tolerate the sale, possession of small amounts and consumption of cannabis (but not the production). This choice stems from the social-health need to separate soft drugs from hard drugs, and to create a safe and controlled environment for cannabis users. The tolerance started in 1976, when the first officially tolerated coffeeshop started operating in Amsterdam). According to the Dutch law, it is tolerated to carry 5 grams of cannabis on one’s body at all times. It is also tolerated to smoke cannabis in specially licensed Coffeeshops, private properties and open-air public places (excluding children’s playgrounds or school parks). Coffeeshops do not have a licence to sell cannabis; they have an exemption from prosecution. Each municipality is free to decide if coffeeshops are allowed on its territory (more than 60% of Dutch small and medium-size towns have no coffeeshops at all), and it is the city mayor, with the approval of the city council, that allows coffeeshops to operate, not national law.

Cultivation of cannabis for sale to coffeeshops is illegal and more or less actively prosecuted, depending on the government in charge. During socialist mandates the police tends to close an eye on cannabis and focuses on hard drugs instead (Holland produces most of the ecstasy circulating in Europe). But in the last 6 years the conservative Christian-democrat coalition has been in power, and cannabis growers are having very tough times. The conservative government is trying to crack down on large-scale cannabis producers because they are involved in exporting cannabis to other European markets, while trying at the same time to reduce the number of coffeeshops in the country. Amsterdam has now 228 coffeeshops, but 43 of them will have to close or relocate before 2011, due to a new application of the law that forbids coffeeshops from being closer than 250 metres from a school. In the town of Bergen-op-Zoom, on the Belgian border, the mayor has ordered the closing of all coffeeshops; this is officially due to the disturbance caused by drug-tourists coming from Belgium to buy cannabis in large numbers, especially on weekends. In reality it is clear that there is a political push towards cleaning up the image of drug-tolerance related with The Netherlands. It is easy to see that the tolerance that made Holland so famous and infamous around the world is now starting to crumble under the heavy criticism of other nations, especially France, Sweden and the USA. While the majority of mayors in The Netherlands is actually in favour of legalizing the cultivation of cannabis to reduce the profits of organized crime, the central government is going in the opposite direction, strengthening rules and applying tighter checks on businesses and individuals involved in the sales of cannabis (coffeeshop owners, seed companies).

Besides all these efforts from the government to give cannabis a bad name, the reality is that cannabis employs directly or indirectly over 50.000 people in Dutch society (coffeeshop, seed company and grow-shop workers but also souvenir shops, hemp shops, magazines). Then there are the induced benefits that cannabis brings to the Dutch economy (airlines, taxis, hotels, restaurants, and any other tourism-related activity gains from cannabis-related tourism as well).

Growing cannabis in The Netherlands is becoming a difficult business. The climate does not allow outdoor commercial grows; so all production for coffeeshops is done indoors or in glasshouses. Dutch growers usually work with mother plants and cuttings, and rarely rely on seeds for their crops. Grow shops in Holland are large and well stocked with the latest technology equipment; the most professional ones even offer grow-advice and technical support to growers. The most active growers have a network of locations, because it is easier and safer than operating large centralized operations. There is much competition on the Dutch market, and usually the best quality weed ends up in the coffeeshops, while the lesser quality is exported to other countries (Germany, UK, Belgium, France and Italy being the most common destinations, but sometimes reaching as far as Japan and Australia).

Dutch growers like to try new equipment and new techniques, and there are different trends that compete for the highest market prices. Bio-organic weed is always very requested, and so it is hydroponic high-potency bud. This creates a large variety of strains and types of weed on the market. The best coffeeshops have large menus boasting up to 30 different types of weed.

Holland has been tolerant since the seventeenth century, when freedom of press started attracting prosecuted writers from all over Europe. And the trend continues in more recent times: many foreigners have come to Holland as cannabis-refugees over the last 30 years, and some have become popular figures in the cannabis scene through their genetics and their work. Some have opened seed companies. Most of the strains that are very successful today derive from clones brought to Holland from the US or Canada, as well as from Africa, Asia and South America.

The commercial aspect of the cannabis production has brought many negative aspects into play. Organized crime is more and more involved in the large-scale production and export of cannabis, while keeping busy with a number of other illicit activities such as hard drugs and prostitution. Because demand is always more than supply, some criminal organizations started cutting the weed with heavy metals or glass-dust, a very dangerous practice that created much alarm in Dutch society. Many growers use pesticide and dangerous chemicals on their crops, and few coffeeshops test their product for presence of pesticides or toxic substances because the law does not require them to. The most established coffeeshops test their cannabis for pesticides and guarantee a high quality product.

A different place in Dutch society is reserved for medicinal cannabis, produced and distributed by the Ministry of Health through the BMC (Office for Medicinal Cannabis). This office issues licenses to legal state growers and controls the production and distribution to pharmacies. The production process is strictly monitored and has to conform to the international norms for the production of medicinal herbs. No medicinal cannabis from government-licensed growers is sold in coffeeshops. The medicinal cannabis government program started in 2001, but never became very popular because the price for medicinal cannabis in pharmacies is far higher than coffeeshop prices, and the health insurance system does not pay for medicinal cannabis. As a consequence, most sick people that need medicinal cannabis buy it in coffeeshops, where it is cheaper.

In the future it seems logic to expect that cannabis will become even more regulated and more accepted in The Netherlands, also on the production side. It seems that these last 30 years should represent a transition from illegality to legality, a sort of learning process for society. But sometimes political and economical forces lobby against cannabis to such an extent that it becomes impossible to make any realistic forecast. What is sure is that cannabis lovers worldwide still consider Holland as the center of the cannabis culture. And it’s still the only place on the planet where one can enter a shop, chose cannabis from a menu, and smoke it; knowing it’s not a crime; feeling it’s not a crime. It’s still a very special feeling, especially for those who have grown up in more repressive societies.

Peace, Love & THC

Franco – Green House Seed Co.

This content is copyright of Green House Seed Co. © Green House Seed Co. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.


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I think weed in the neatherlands is a joke I have not smoked any good stuff out her in about ten years all coffee shop stuff should be thrown in the bin

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Tolerance is very important for all aspects in a society and our own peace of mind. a tolerant society is a more healthy society. let us hope that the peaceful ways of Holland are not lost by the reactionaries. In fact i do not see the way lost, there are always some set-backs, but people move naturally towards freedom and happiness, maybe not always in a direct route, but once people taste freedom and peace they move toward it like a natural law, like plants reaching for the light.

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