Minister says "no" to cannabis production

Minister Ivo Opstelten (Security and Justice, VVD), is against the idea of regulating marijuana cultivation, favoring the tackling of criminality and nuisance. After a high level meeting about marijuana, the 'wiettop', on 31 January, many municipalities are admitting to a wish to experiment with the cultivation of marijuana, in order to limit the nuisance. In the Netherlands, the sale of marijuana is tolerated, but cultivation is illegal. This causes many problems, RTL reports. Opstelten does not think that those problems will disappear with the regulation of marijuana cultivation. "Nor the illegal plantations (in residential areas or elsewhere), nor the underlying (organized) criminality will disappear with the regulation of cultivation for coffeeshops", the minister writes to the House of Parliament. He is also in disagreement with establishers of a recent manifesto titled Joint Regulation, which argues that regulation would offer a solution for safety issues in residential areas and for the (organized) criminality in the area of soft drugs. This manifesto was signed by mayors of diverse municipalities, who are looking at it as an experimentation. There will be another debate in Parliament about coffeeshop policy.