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Europe's most mature cannabis tolerance policy, now transitioning to formal regulation.
The Netherlands has operated a tolerance (gedoogbeleid) policy for cannabis coffeeshops since the 1970s. A formal adult-use retail pilot launched in 2023 in ten municipalities to create a licensed supply chain from seed to sale, replacing decades of grey-market supply.
The Netherlands was the first country in Europe to establish a state-controlled medical cannabis system for both patient treatment and domestic production.
The sole licensed producer, Bedrocan, supplies all domestic production at a fixed price to the Dutch government. The government then supplies it to domestic and international medical cannabis markets.
Any doctor in the country can prescribe medical cannabis for any condition where there is scientific evidence of efficacy. Reimbursement is available in some cases through private health insurance only.
The Netherlands operates a wietexperiment (adult-use cannabis trial) in select municipalities, testing a legal, regulated supply chain for recreational cannabis.
Who can prescribe: Any licensed doctor for any condition with supporting clinical evidence.
No formal list of restricted conditions — prescription is at physician discretion.
Reimbursement: Available in some cases through private health insurance only; not available through the public system.
The Netherlands has a long-established medical cannabis infrastructure, though the domestic market has not significantly scaled in recent years relative to European competitors.
All medical cannabis supplied domestically is produced by Bedrocan under a government supply agreement at a fixed price. Product variety is therefore limited compared to markets like Germany or the UK.
Bedrocan products are also available in other European countries including Germany, Denmark, Italy, and Malta via the Dutch government's export arrangements.
The Netherlands remains one of Europe's top medical cannabis exporters despite not scaling domestic production volumes. Bedrocan products are exported to multiple European markets.
The country has historically been the main global exporter of medical cannabis, though other European producers (Portugal, Denmark, Czech Republic) are rapidly growing their export market share.
Imports into the Netherlands are limited given the exclusive domestic supply arrangement with Bedrocan.
Cannabis remains technically illegal but personal use and coffeeshop sales are tolerated under the gedoogbeleid policy. A formal regulated supply chain pilot is now active in 10 cities to replace the previously unregulated supply.
Yes. Coffeeshops continue to operate. In pilot cities, licensed producers now supply coffeeshops, creating a legal regulated supply chain for the first time in the Netherlands' history.