According to De Volkskrant, on Monday, the government’s controversial regulated marijuana experiment is at risk. The five biggest cities – Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Den Haag and Eidhoven – refused to take part. Instead ,Tilburg, Almere, Breda ,Nijmegen and Groningen decided to give it a go. The experiment with regulated cannabis will remove the limitations between the sale of marijuana in council-licensed coffee shops and the illegal cultivation and supply.
The big cities are not happy that the trial will last four years , whether is successful or not. To make things simpler , coffee shop owners will have to return to the illegal circuit of growing and selling cannabis. Another major complaint is that all coffee shops within a council area will have to take part in the scheme.
In Amsterdam, which houses 175 coffee shops, this would be impossible to control, mayor Femke Halsema said. Furthermore, the coffee shops would not be allowed to sell any ‘foreign’ hashish, which counts for 25% of the sales. This problem will affect users to go the illegal circuit. The conditions for the experiment still have to be approved by the parliament.
