Netherlands
Europe
#11 of 196 worldwide
#5 of 45 in Europe
Formally illegal but tolerated: coffeeshops sell up to 5 g per person and five plants are usually only confiscated. A regulated supply-chain experiment now covers ten municipalities.
Score breakdown ▏world average
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Possession · 25%3/10adds 7.5 of 25 points
Cannabis is formally illegal under the Opium Act. Under the toleration policy the Public Prosecution Service does not prosecute possession of up to 5 g of marijuana or hash, though police may still confiscate it. Larger amounts can be prosecuted.
Personal cultivation · 25%2/10adds 5.0 of 25 points
Not legal. Up to five plants for personal use are normally not prosecuted, but police will seize them. More than five plants is prosecuted, growers face back-charges for electricity, and tenants risk eviction.
Punishment & enforcement · 20%6/10adds 12.0 of 20 points
Users are effectively left alone, with confiscation the worst outcome for small amounts. Commercial growing and dealing outside coffeeshops are prosecuted and carry prison.
Sharing & gifting · 10%2/10adds 2.0 of 10 points
Supplying cannabis outside a coffeeshop is an offence. Passing a joint is not pursued in practice, but there is no legal protection for giving cannabis to another adult.
Consumption · 10%5/10adds 5.0 of 10 points
Consumption is permitted inside coffeeshops and in private. Many municipalities ban cannabis use in streets, around schools or in city centres through local by-laws, so public use depends on where you are.
Legal access · 10%5/10adds 5.0 of 10 points
Coffeeshops sell openly to adults 18+, up to 5 g per person per transaction, under strict criteria: no advertising, no hard drugs, no nuisance, no minors. A residents-only rule exists in law and is enforced by some municipalities, mainly in the south. Many towns have no coffeeshop.
More context not part of the score
Production has always been illegal — the 'back door' problem. Since April 2025 an experiment lets ten licensed growers legally supply all coffeeshops in ten participating municipalities, running through 2029. Everywhere else, supply remains criminal.
Coffeeshops sell flower and hashish, plus edibles such as space cake. Concentrates are in a weaker position, and the experiment's products are tested and labelled.
Doctors have been able to prescribe pharmacy-dispensed medicinal cannabis since 2003, produced under contract for the government's Office of Medicinal Cannabis. Health insurers usually do not reimburse it.
Tolerated possession leaves no criminal record. Drivers are subject to a per-se THC blood limit, and home growers can lose their tenancy even when not prosecuted.
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