Who says you can’t regulate the unruly? A year into the Netherlands’ bold attempt to clean up its cannabis supply chain, early data says the experiment is doing better than expected — with a few caveats.
The Dutch government launched its Controlled Cannabis Supply Chain Experiment in April 2025, covering coffeeshops across 10 cities. The idea: instead of the country’s long-standing “we see nothing” tolerance policy, regulated growers supply directly to coffeeshops in a closed chain. The experiment runs through 2029 and is meant to inform how the Netherlands might fully legalise cannabis.
The first follow-up study — covering April 2025 through Q1 2026 — compared those 10 participating municipalities against 10 similar ones still operating under the old rules:
- Product variety shot up: edibles availability in regulated shops jumped from 34% to 94%. Comparison shops saw growth too, but only to 61%.
- Prices fell more sharply in regulated areas — though hash prices bucked the trend, rising from €11.68 to €21.12 per gram.
- Transparency improved: 55% of regulated coffeeshops now list THC percentages on their menus (average: 37.2%), versus just 10% in unregulated areas.
- No health red flags: researchers found no evidence of increased problematic cannabis use or worsening health outcomes among customers.
- Early headaches — limited product variety, a glitchy track-and-trace system, regulatory confusion — have been largely ironed out since launch.
On the horizon: The Dutch experiment is still in its early innings, and researchers are careful not to overread the data — bigger questions around usage habits, safety, and neighbourhood liveability remain inconclusive for now. But if the trend holds, the Netherlands may be quietly building the blueprint for one of the most pragmatic drug-policy overhauls in Europe.