ABSTRACT
Once started in the 1970s as locally tolerated settings where consumers could buy and use cannabis, “coffeeshops” evolved into a distinctive characteristic of Dutch drug policy. Over time, the policy pendulum has been shifting between a stronger local and a stronger national focus. The result is a well-defined set of national criteria governing the “front door” of coffeeshops, such as a minimum age, and maximum amount of cannabis per transaction, but also room for local arrangements, including a zero coffeeshop option. Recent regulatory developments include the introduction of a residents-only policy for coffeeshops, a national measure that resulted in local protests.
For many years, supply to coffeeshops (the “back door”) was not a serious issue in Dutch drug policy debate. From the 1990s onwards, the fight against domestic cannabis production was intensified. Local community action fueled a national debate on the inconsistency in cannabis policy (tolerating coffeeshops, a repressive approach towards supply). In the Autumn of 2017, the government agreed to initiate an experiment with regulated cannabis cultivation to supply coffeeshops (“closed chain”) in six to ten municipalities, with the aim to learn evidence-based lessons that, in around 2025, will allow the then incumbent government to decide upon future steps in Dutch cannabis policy.
