Background · 7 April 2026 · Closed coffeeshop chain experiment
The closed coffeeshop chain experiment — commonly known as the cannabis experiment — is the first time in the Netherlands that the entire chain from cultivation to sale is legal and traceable. In ten municipalities, all coffeeshops sell exclusively cannabis from designated growers, with track-and-trace and oversight.
For the participating businesses, it is not a study from a distance but day-to-day operations: purchasing from a limited number of suppliers, mandatory registration and a range of products dependent on what the regulated chain can supply.
Below is the chronology, the legal framework and our conclusion on the period after the experimental phase.
Chronology
Legal framework
The experiment rests on the Experiment Closed Coffeeshop Chain Act (Wet experiment gesloten coffeeshopketen), with an accompanying Decree and Regulation. These set out the participating municipalities, the designation of growers, the requirements for products and the mandatory registration.
17 June 2024
Start of the transitional phase: designated growers may supply regulated products to coffeeshops in the participating municipalities, alongside existing supply.
7 April 2025
Start of the experimental phase. From this point, participating coffeeshops may sell only cannabis from designated growers. A temporary exception applies for hashish.
1 September 2025
End of the temporary exception for hashish. From this point, hashish too comes exclusively from designated growers.
26 March 2026
A large majority of the House of Representatives votes in favour of continuing the experiment; a motion to stop it is rejected.
7 April 2026
The experimental phase turns one year old. The Inspectorate of Justice and Security reports 42 violations across 46 inspections of growers, mainly relating to registration in the track-and-trace system and security requirements. Warnings and remediation agreements followed; the chain continued to operate.
Spring–summer 2026
Mayors of participating municipalities call for a broader regulated chain. In the shop, the availability and variety of regulated hashish remains the most-cited bottleneck.
2029/2030
End of the experimental phase, followed by a wind-down phase and a possible extension. Evaluation and political decision-making follow after that.
Case law and legal framework
Experiment Closed Coffeeshop Chain Act
Act, Decree and Regulation
The experiment is a statutorily regulated exception to the Opium Act, with its own obligations for growers and coffeeshops and its own oversight.
Oversight and enforcement
Inspectorate of Justice and Security, 7 April 2026
42 violations across 46 inspections of the ten growers in the first year of the experimental phase, mainly concerning registration and security.
What it means for businesses
Participating coffeeshops buy exclusively from designated growers and register every batch. That makes the chain traceable, but also vulnerable: if one grower drops out, there is no alternative legal source.
Range and pricing have therefore come to lie partly outside the businesses' own control. That is a relevant fact for the evaluation: practical workability is as much an outcome as public health and crime.
- Purchasing exclusively from designated growers
- Mandatory registration in track-and-trace
- Availability and variety of hashish as the biggest practical bottleneck
Our conclusion
The experiment has proven workable: the chain runs, growers supply, coffeeshops sell, and regulators inspect.
Our conclusion is that the prospects after the experimental phase are the real problem. Without a follow-up decision, the participating municipalities fall back on the old tolerance policy — a disruption to operations for the businesses and growers involved, and, for policy, a loss of everything built up during the experiment.