Netherlands to draw lots for 10 legal cannabis growers this week

The Dutch government will hold a lottery next Thursday to select the first 10 legal cannabis growers in the Netherlands as part of the pilot program for the legal distribution of cannabis at coffeeshops.

The winners of the drawing will likely be the first people in Europe to legally grow cannabis for adult use.

The pilot program will initially involve 10 growers who will supply approximately 80 coffee shops in 10 cities across the Netherlands. The Ministry of Health received 149 license applications for cannabis cultivation. The majority of applications were, however, rejected for various reasons, as explained in a letter from the ministry obtained by MJBizDaily.

In the letter, Minister of Health Tamara van Ark and Minister of Justice Ferdinand Grapperhaus wrote that 39 of the nearly 150 applications had been selected to participate in the random drawing.

Once selected by lottery, the winners will be required to undergo a criminal background check.  If the process goes smoothly and no objections are raised, the 10 producers could be officially designated by the end of February 2021, according to the letter.

Farmers who are selected by lottery for ranks 11 and higher will remain on the waiting list.

To qualify for the lottery, cannabis producers had to prove that they would be able to supply sufficient quantities of products that met the required quality standards and submit several documents, including details on how they planned to cultivate the crop, the location of the cultivation site, and the security measures they intended to implement.

Without official production, coffeeshops—although legal—, are now forced to buy their supplies on the black market.