The Dutch experience of regulated cannabis cultivation is again postponed. The trial will not start until the second quarter of 2023, Public Health Minister Ernst Kuipers and Justice and Security Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius said in a letter to parliament. The original plan was to start selling regulated cannabis in 2020. This was later delayed to the second half of 2022 and now to next year.
According to the ministers, it is taking longer than expected to get to the point “where the quantity, quality and diversity” of legally grown cannabis is sufficient to provide participating coffeeshops with sufficient supplies. They expect that point to be reached in the first half of next year at the earliest.
The selection of growers “is taking longer than expected, and many of them are having difficulty finding a location”, the ministers wrote. So far, eight of the ten producers participating in the experiment have been selected. “It is expected that the ninth and tenth producers will also be selected shortly.”
Ministers now hope to begin the “transition phase” of the experiment in the second quarter of 2023. During this phase, participating coffeeshops will sell both regulated cannabis and tolerated cannabis.
Six weeks later, the experience will begin in full, with participating coffeeshops only selling cannabis from designated growers. The experiment will last four years.
