While we are all preparing for the first legally produced weed in the Netherlands thanks to the Experiment closed coffeeshop chain, many people (especially consumers) are left wondering why rich people can become even richer by participating in the experiment. While if you are poor, or disadvantaged, you are still not allowed to grow your own. Something that crossed our minds again last week and made us want to devote a column to.
According to official guidelines you can grow up to five plants in the Netherlands
Perhaps the title of this column is somewhat simplistic, but it is true. Many people think that growing cannabis for personal use is limited to five plants in the Netherlands. However, it is only a police directive from 2001 that says so:
With a quantity of 5 plants or less, it is assumed that there is no professional or business activity. This situation is treated the same as the situation in which it is found that there is a small quantity, intended for personal use. In such cases, the case will be dismissed with distance, with the motive ‘serious offence’.
But that doesn’t apply if you are a tenant You might think: fine, I’ll put five plants inside or outside in the garden. But if you’re a tenant, whether it’s social rent or private rent, as far as we know you always sign a contract stating that no cannabis may be grown anywhere (not even outside). Not one plant, not five plants, just none.
IF YOU DO IT ANYWAY, YOU CAN BE EVICTED FROM YOUR HOUSE AND WITH A BIT OF BAD LUCK YOU’LL END UP ON A SO-CALLED BLACK LIST.
Fairness is never close when it comes to cannabis
The very people who cannot buy a house because they simply cannot (perhaps never will) afford it are already less affluent and therefore, if they want to smoke cannabis, end up in what is often an expensive coffee shop. If you grow it yourself anyway, you can be evicted and with a bit of bad luck you will end up on a so-called black list (of the housing corporation) and you will not be able to find a new place to live, just like that.
Not only that, your mayor can lock your house for a certain period of time. But if you’ve already been evicted anyway, that hardly matters anymore, of course. For that matter, the mayor can also lock a condo for a certain period of time. Even with a nationwide cannabis experiment the Netherlands is still left with holes in the cannabis policy. Even though the nation is considering to be one of the most progressive ones when it comes to cannabis.
But wealthy private investors and publicly traded companies will soon be (or already are) allowed to grow under ten different umbrellas for the cannabis experiment. Not that that solves everything.
In fact, it is only legal in the coffee shop and once you take the weed home across the threshold, it is no more or less legal than the coffee shop weed you would buy now. Also, it should definitely not be more than five grams (far too little in our opinion) because more can cause major problems:
Quantities between 5 and 30 grams will result in a criminal response if discovered.
Let alone having more than 30 grams, an amount you are simply allowed to have with you in most U.S. states that have legalized cannabis. In Colorado, for example, you are allowed to have up to 57 grams on you (that includes at home). Still too little, because anyone who has ever seen a cannabis plant knows that you’ll easily get more than 57 grams from it.
Luckily we don’t live in the Netherlands
Imagine moving to the one country that is supposed to be friendliest to pot lovers, only to discover that you cannot even grow your own plants. The horror! Be happy you live in a country in which there are certain states where you can do as you please. Now the only thing you have to worry about is choosing the right strain to grow. We have a suggestion for you; the Hulkberry strain. There is a reason why this strain is also known als Bruce Banner #3 and it has won many awards over the years. Even so, she remained fairly easy to grow and is therefore suitable for beginners. So try out your luck and send us pictures of the results!
