Dutch Parliament votes to legalize cannabis production

A narrow majority of Dutch parliamentarians today voted in favor of legalizing cannabis cultivation. This legislative development would amend a flawed law which, until now, authorized the sale of cannabis in coffeeshops, but did not offer a legal cannabis production chain.

A big but...

77 out of 150 members of parliament voted in favour of the bill, which had been submitted to the European Parliament. submitted by the centrist D66 party. Its representative Vera Bergkamp immediately reacted:

«This is an important step towards putting an end to a nonsense that has gone on for far too long. The Lower House has approved my bill to regulate cannabis cultivation, on the initiative of many mayors and the Dutch people».

The law must, however, be passed by the Senate (Erste Kamer, first chamber) before it can be approved. The Senate does not support the bill, and the anti-legalization faction is in the majority.

The aim of this proposed law is to reduce organized crime in the Dutch cannabis industry, a demand that has been made many times by mayors in the south and east of the country. In fact, the Dutch Parliament had already voted in favor of legalizing cannabis production. cannabis in the Netherlands a few years earlier, but even then the law had not gone all the way.

Potential future regulation of the Dutch cannabis industry aims to provide better controls on cannabis harvesting, and ensure adherence to sound production methods. Cannabis producers will no doubt be taxed on profits, as coffeeshops already are.