In the Netherlands, recreational cannabis trade is nothing new. But expressly legal cannabis commerce for recreational purposes is a new thing. In the Netherlands, adult-use marijuana commerce has been tolerated, but it was not always legal. This changed, though in a very limited manner, in the last few years when legislators and regulators allowed research-based recreational cannabis purchases and sales.
The ‘Closed Coffeeshop Chain Experiment’ is underway in ten jurisdictions: Almere, Arnhem, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg, and Zaanstad. Amsterdam is conspicuously absent from the research. The Dutch Parliament had previously rejected a proposal for the project to be expanded to the Amsterdam-Oost area. Recent publication of the first official assessment on the Closed Coffeeshop Chain Experiment.
In ten intervention municipalities coffeeshops only sell cannabis from licensed growers. In ten comparison municipalities the tolerance policy is in place. The follow-up measure is designed to track changes since the baseline measurement, and determine if differences have emerged between the intervention and comparison municipalities. Researchers (translated from Dutch into English) wrote.
Major findings from the assessment were that cannabis consumption rates have remained stable in jurisdictions where legal cannabis sales are permitted and that there are no major related public health issues in participating jurisdictions compared to the ‘comparison municipalities.’ In participating jurisdictions there is still an unregulated market, but this is not surprising given the small scale of the legal cannabis commerce trial.
Here is some interesting information on cannabis prices at participating cannabis stores in the Netherlands, courtesy of a recent newsletter by cannabis industry data company Cannamonitor.
- Shops offer 78 unique products on average
- Cannabis flower prices average €10.1 per gram (and are dropping)
- Hash prices average €21.1 per gram (and are increasing)
In Switzerland, regional cannabis commerce pilot tests are also being conducted in many jurisdictions and they are a success by all means. SCRIPT’s pilot trial in Bern, Biel, Lucerne and other Swiss cities will begin sales in 2024.
An interim assessment of that cannabis pilot trial was presented earlier this month, with researchers finding that “regulated access to cannabis does not lead to increased consumption – on the contrary, there are even slight downward trends.” Researchers found that the assessment determined “regulated distribution opens up opportunities for harm-reduction by advising consumers on lower-risk consumption methods, such as oral ingestion or vaporizing.”
The study showed that pharmacies with regulated distribution can promote a switch towards potentially safer methods of consumption, explained Reto Auer of the Bern Institute of Primary Health Care of the University of Bern.
“Furthermore…71 percent of study participants said they would spread the risk-minimization info they received at study pharmacies among their social circles.” In a press statement, the researchers explained their findings.
In other Swiss jurisdictions, where cannabis pilot tests are being conducted, positive results have been observed.
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