The “Experimental Phase” of the Netherlands Closed Coffeeshop Chain Experiment began on Monday.
A December 10 statement by the Dutch Government declared that “from 7 April 2025, coffeeshops in municipalities participating in the weed experiment will only be allowed to sell regulated cannabis. The responsible ministers, Minister Van Weel (Justice and Security) and State Secretary Karremans (Health, Welfare and Sport), informed the House of this development today. This date is final, providing certainty for municipalities, coffeeshop owners and growers.”
This Experimental Phase of the weed experiment is scheduled to last for four years and the participating Dutch municipalities are Almere, Arnhem, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg, Voorne aan Zee, and Zaanstad.
The purpose of the project is to investigate the feasibility of the switch of national dispensaries from back-door to government-regulated supply.
Inadequate production from government-sanctioned production and processing coupled with complaints surrounding a lack of diversity, quantity, and quality of products from coffeeshop owners lead to an initial stage of this second weed experiment phase, initially set for September 2024.
Three more approved growers have now been added to the approved roster, bringing the number to seven. Phase One of the experiment began on December 15, 2023, when regulated weed and hash sales launched in coffeeshops across Tilburg and Breda, expanding to the other eight participating municipalities on June 17 of 2024.
To combat continued complaints regarding a limited selection of hash products, the deadline for the coffeeshops of the ten municipalities to switch to 100% government-regulated hash will be June 10, 2025.
First "legal" batch: La Kalada's Ice-o-Lator Frosted Sunsetz by Q-Farms, one of the licensed producers in the Dutch cannabis experiment. #wietproef pic.twitter.com/yMXDJvjr2q
— VOC Nederland (@vocnederland) April 6, 2025
Notably, La Kalada’s Netherlands division has now joined the project and has released their first legal hash, Frosted Sunsetz Ice-o-Lator by licensed producer, Q-Farms.
“The ‘Closed Coffee Shop Chain Experiment’ aims to investigate whether it is possible to have a regulated chain producing, distributing and selling cannabis. A team of researchers, under the guidance of an independent Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, will also study the effects on public health, crime, safety and public nuisance. The research outcomes may contribute to decision-making on future cannabis policy in the Netherlands.”
