The Hague wants to take part in experimentation with legal cannabis production for coffeeshops

A motion by The Hague City Party, sponsored by City Councilmember Fatima Faïd, was introduced in late December, calling on the municipality to «get to work» on participating in the pilot program for the legal production of cannabis for coffeeshops. The motion was adopted by the city council by a majority vote, we are told. CannabisIndustrie.nl.

The «Join Weed Trial» motion adopted by the city council

The website of The Hague City Party justifies the motion as follows:

«The Dutch policy on soft drugs is now hopelessly behind the times. The concept of tolerance has led to some very absurd situations where the front end—the coffee shop—is regulated, but the back end—the production chain—is not. The national cannabis pilot program is changing this situation.

So far, only small municipalities are participating. One city from the G-4 is missing [Editor's note: The four major cities in the Netherlands: Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht]. A legislative amendment is even being drafted to allow neighborhoods in major cities to participate as well. It is is scheduled to be Amsterdam Zuidoost. We believe that, as the municipality of The Hague, we should also participate.

With the adoption of our motion, the mayor must begin discussions with The Hague’s coffeeshops to determine whether they are willing to participate in the pilot program. As a political party in The Hague, we support this participation, because the legalization of soft drugs provides a better understanding of the production chain and how cultivation is carried out.»

According to Gezal Karabekir, the group’s representative for The Hague’s city party: «By participating in a pilot program on legal cannabis, we are clearly showing the city’s residents that we care about their health.»

The text of the motion is as follows:

«Whereas:

The central government is launching a pilot program involving a chain of closed coffeeshops—that is, the legal cultivation of cannabis; no city in the G4 is participating in this pilot program yet

Whereas:

The coffee shops in The Hague meet an important social need; legalizing the supply to coffee shops may lead to a reduction in public nuisances and crime; the interests of The Hague’s coffee shops are represented by the umbrella organization for The Hague’s coffee shops; legalizing cannabis cultivation gives consumers more control over product quality; the central government will also allow G4 cities to participate in the pilot program with one or more city neighborhoods; calls on the municipal executive to initiate discussions with The Hague’s coffee shops and, if coffee shop owners in the city or district are in favor of participating in the pilot program involving a legal supply chain for coffee shops, to inform the national government that they are open to participating in this pilot program or any follow-up initiatives that may result from it.

»And let's move on to the agenda."

Previous Discussions

In early 2022, De Telegraaf reported that the government had discussed with the municipality of The Hague the possibility of it participating in the cannabis trial as the eleventh city. It turned out that that it was the Amsterdam-Oost district.

In 2019, The municipality announced that she found «the conditions to be insufficiently feasible» after consulting with the owners of the city’s coffee shops.