Thoughts from the void: Cannabis and the Netherlands

The Netherlands is to global cannabis what Varanasi is to Indian cannabis. It has been the global face of cannabis resisting the bizarre and unjust prohibition of the plant and offering people from far and wide access to the iconic plant, thus keeping it alive in the minds of the general public. The Dutch coffee shop is the equivalent to the Varanasi 'tandai' shop offering tourists and the layman from far and wide a glimpse into the magical world of cannabis. It is no surprise then that one of the things one must do in the great city of Amsterdam is visit a coffee shop. Here an individual over the age of 18 can choose from a wide variety of cannabis strains from all over the world, purchase it in loose or rolled form, and consume it at the shop or take it home. People from all walks of life throng the shops to partake in what has now become a distinctly Amsterdam experience.

The Dutch government was one of the few that recognized early that the plant was relatively harmless compared to the dangerous hard drugs available in the market. It allowed cannabis usage while the rest of the world succumbed to reefer madness. It decriminalized the possession of cannabis below 5 grams though law enforcement could confiscate the cannabis and fine the individual. It also restricted the cannabis to Dutch nationals. Both these restrictions have rarely been implemented thus resulting in the global popularity of the Dutch coffee shop. Dutch cannabis for medical use has a significant number of patients who swear by the plant's medical benefits and will have nothing to do with the array of harmful pharmaceutical drugs that most people around the world have no choice but to ingest.

The resilience of the Netherlands in the face of world wide prohibition of cannabis has been inspirational and has been extremely beneficial to the country. Dutch cannabis companies like Bedrocan are among the best established in the world. Dutch research on cannabis is among the most advanced in the world. The Netherlands has built a cannabis seed base sourced from all over the world that could easily be the most diverse in the world.

Dutch cannabis varieties, though mostly bred from other varieties secured from around the world and in some cases with high Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, is possibly among the best in terms of quality today. This has prompted many European countries such as the UK and Germany to now turn to the Netherlands for cannabis that their people desperately need to address various serious health issues, these countries having more or less completely eliminated the plant within their own borders through repressive, selfish and ignorant actions. The Dutch still probably source a lot of their cannabis from Morocco and Afghanistan. There has been recent steps to become more sustainable with regulatory agencies asking local cannabis cultivators to supply the cannabis that the coffee shops require. A number of licenses are said to have been issued with the intention of making home grown Dutch cannabis the norm and to reduce the dependency on the international black market for the country's requirements.

A number of US states that have legalized cannabis for recreational use are looking to set up Dutch style cannabis consumption lounges and are even trying to out compete them in terms of business, ambience, amenities and popularity. Cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and Las Vegas are among the front runners in terms of setting up cannabis cafes inspired by Amsterdam's iconic coffee shops.

One can easily say that the world needs to be thankful to the Netherlands, Amsterdam and Dutch coffee shops for protecting and sustaining the precious plant and its tradition in the face of overwhelming international stupidity. The UN and all world governments need to look at the Netherlands as an example of some of the things it has done right and what they have done wrong when it comes to cannabis.

Netherlands should legalize the cannabis plant for adult recreational use rather than pursuing its current approach of decriminalization and ambiguous implementation. That should help the country leverage its early mover advantage with reference to legal cannabis. Home growing will also help to build up a sustainable supply of produce locally, increase plant diversity and tourism. Also as the latest UNODC reports state, dangerous synthetic drugs such as amphetamines, including methamphetamine, are making deeper inroads into Dutch society, moving in to take the spaces created by restrictions on the access to cannabis and misinformation surrounding the plant.

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.

'From July 1 until July 28, companies will be able to apply to grow adult-use marijuana for supply to coffee shops in 10 municipalities around the country.

July marks the official start to the preparatory phase of the limited-scope experiment that will mandate all coffee shops in the 10 participating municipalities be supplied exclusively with legally grown cannabis.

Until now, all coffee shops have carried cannabis only from the illicit market.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/netherlands-to-open-applications-for-cannabis-cultivation-experiment-next-month/

'More recently, methamphetamine shipments have also been intercepted en route from Mexico to the Netherlands for distribution in Europe; moreover, Mexican “methamphetamine cooks”, linked to Mexican organized crime groups, were arrested in Europe, after being detected in large-scale methamphetamine manufacture in Western Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Of the total number of amphetamine laboratories reported dismantled worldwide in the period 2014–2018 (749 laboratories), more than half were dismantled in Europe (417), most notably in Western and Central Europe (316) and, to a lesser degree, in Eastern Europe (100). Overall, 16 European countries reported the dismantling of clandestine amphetamine laboratories over the period 2014– 2018, in particular the Netherlands. The Netherlands, followed by Poland, Lithuania and Belgium, were the most frequently identified source countries of amphetamine in Europe. Amphetamine from South-Eastern Europe was reported as being mainly sourced from Bulgaria and Turkey. However, it is likely that such statistics are heavily skewed as a number of countries, in particular in the Middle East, where large-scale amphetamine manufacture has been reported, have a very limited capacity to dismantle laboratories and thus are not appropriately represented in these statistics' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Morocco, with 47,500 ha reported to be under cannabis cultivation in 2018, continues to be the most frequently mentioned source country for cannabis resin worldwide in the annual report questionnaire, being mentioned in more than a fifth of all cases as the main country of origin of cannabis resin seized worldwide over the period 2014–2018; Morocco was followed by Afghanistan, where, a UNODC survey found, in 2010 an area of 9,000–29,000 ha was under cannabis cultivation. Cannabis resin produced in Morocco is mainly destined for other markets in North Africa and markets in Western and Central Europe. Some cannabis resin of Moroccan origin is also trafficked to Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe. Most cannabis resin of Moroccan origin destined for Europe is first shipped to Spain, from where it is smuggled to other markets in the region. For many years, including in the period 2014–2018, Spain has been identified by other European countries as the principal country of departure and transit for cannabis resin, followed by the Netherlands.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Afghanistan appears to be the second most important source country of cannabis resin worldwide, with 19 per cent of all mentions worldwide in the annual report questionnaire over the period 2014– 2018, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon. The cannabis resin produced in these countries is principally destined for other countries in the Near and Middle East/South-West Asia, although cannabis resin originating in Afghanistan has also been identified in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western and Central Europe. The Islamic Republic of Iran reported that the cannabis resin found on its territory originated mainly in Afghanistan (followed by Pakistan), with some 65 per cent destined for countries of the Arabian peninsula, 15 per cent for the Caucasus and some 20 per cent for domestic consumption. Cannabis resin originating in Lebanon is mainly found in the Near and Middle East and, to a lesser extent, in Western and Central Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM

'Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge and his German counterpart, Jens Spahn, agreed to more than double medical cannabis shipments from the current 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) per year to 1,500 kilograms, according to the Der Spiegel newspaper.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/germany-turns-to-netherlands-medical-cannabis/

'In the Netherlands, the longtime cannabis company Bedrocan has shipped product to Canada, Australia, and European Union nations.

Meanwhile, the Dutch government’s Office of Medicinal Cannabis sends shipments of medical marijuana to Italy, Germany, and Finland.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/legal-international-cannabis-trade-already-exists-mapped

'Year-over-year sales doubled in Europe from 2017 to 2018, underpinned by strong demand in Germany and Italy, though the number of MMJ prescriptions decreased in the Netherlands in that time.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/new-report-realistic-snapshot-europe-cannabis-market-opportunities/

'In the near term, Europe’s three largest medical cannabis markets – Italy, Netherlands and Germany – will see patient counts more than double to a combined 225,000 this year. Over the next decade, “The European Cannabis Report” predicts the total market for medical cannabis could surpass 58 billion euros.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/davos-report-europe-worlds-largest-medical-cannabis-market-5-years/

'Germany has relied on imports from the Netherlands and Canada since it legalized medical marijuana in March 2017. Now it’s aiming for the first local harvest by the end of next year.

Producers and pharmacies will still be allowed to buy from foreign growers, but the tender will ensure a high-quality native supply is also available, said Maik Pommer, a spokesman for the drugs agency.'
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-28/german-cannabis-office-seeks-local-growers-to-secure-pot-harvest

'Still, if there’s one trait the Dutch capital possesses in volume, it’s dynamism. Amsterdam has always been avant-garde of social progress. In this year’s national elections, the city cast most votes for the Greens – a leftist party so named for espousing environmental priorities, though inevitably also associated with their other verdant leanings. Notable, too, is INTRAVAL’s calculation that Amsterdam still has one coffeeshop per every 4,907 residents, and that the nationwide decline feared originally “has somewhat stablised.”

So while the outlook for dispensaries in the Netherlands is not cloud-free, the landscape remains fertile and varied, as the 10 Amsterdam coffeeshops below attest to. These are our picks for the best places to stop, sip a coffee, and sample both new and classic strains the next time you’re in the Netherlands.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/10-best-amsterdam-cannabis-coffeeshops

'Unsurprisingly, San Francisco is the trailblazer. It’s the only city in the state to fully embrace Amsterdam-like coffee shops, the iconic tourist stops in the Netherlands where people can buy and smoke marijuana in the same shop.'
https://apnews.com/0e6ae176d4dd458fa2ceb5b5a70e0094

'Based on the data collected, it can be concluded that an increasing number of Dutch patients are using medicinal cannabis on prescription, while the average daily consumption has remained remarkably stable over many years. This suggests the absence of tolerance or overconsumption in this population. In a future study, we hope to include more details about the prescribed use of cannabis oils, such as the preference of patients for THC versus

CBD dominant oils for different medical conditions. We believe that our results presented here will contribute to a better understanding of medicinal cannabis use in the Netherlands and abroad and will help physicians and prescribers around the world to make better informed decisions about their own prescribing of medicinal cannabis products to patients in need.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5868329/

'The list, which appeared on the back of a package of pre-rolls spotted by redditor BigWaveSmallOcean, is meant as a guide to avoid overconsumption and generally have a good time. It’s well-intentioned without being snooty, reminiscent of your best bud who helped ease you into the cannabis scene — talking you through your first hit, your first edible, your first dab, your first (fill-in-the-blank cannabis experience).

Aside from the slightly stilted Dutch-to-English translation (which is actually kind of charming), this is some quality, commonsense advice from the nation that started the cannabis legalization trend long before the U.S. caught on'
https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/these-dutch-tips-on-responsible-cannabis-use-are-downright-charmi

'Since you can’t spend all your time holed up in Amsterdam’s many coffeeshops (well, you can, but we won’t judge) then consider a fun post-smoke activity to help you take in the culture of the Netherlands.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/the-10-best-things-to-do-in-amsterdam-while-high

'Yet, despite their nation’s strict views on marijuana, research shows that significant numbers of Chinese tourists are heading to Amsterdam to take part in its prolific cannabis culture. A new study published in the journal Current Issues in Tourism sheds light on some of the motivations for the cross-continental cannatourism.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-tourism-from-china-to-amsterdam-study-sheds-light-on-motivations/

Cannabis and Afghanistan
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2019/05/cannabis-and-afghanistan.html

Cannabis and Morocco
https://ravingkoshy.blogspot.com/2020/11/cannabis-and-morocco.html

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Cannabis and the Netherlands

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