The Dutch Wietexperiment One Year On - Here's How It's Going
A year ago, on April 7, 2025, the Netherlands launched the experimental phase of its controlled cannabis supply chain trial – better known as the wietexperiment. Ten municipalities, around 75 coffeeshops, and a handful of licensed growers attempting to prove that regulated cannabis supply can work. Now that the first year is behind us, there’s enough data to take stock.
The short version: it’s going better than many expected, though not without problems.
What the experiment actually is
For those unfamiliar, the wietexperiment is the Dutch government’s attempt to close what has always been a legal contradiction – coffeeshops can sell cannabis legally, but buying it from producers has always been illegal. The experiment connects licensed, regulated growers directly to participating coffeeshops, cutting out the illegal supply chain entirely.
The experiment runs until the end of 2029, with a possible 18-month extension. A national rollout depends on how the evaluation lands.
The first year in numbers
Seventy of 75 participating coffeeshops have successfully sold regulated cannabis and hashish. That’s a solid start. The largest grower, CanAdelaar, saw revenue grow from €17.7 million to €47.3 million in the twelve months ending September 2025 – a sign that demand from the regulated market is real.
Regulators identified 42 violations among growers over the course of the year, mostly around product registration and security protocols. Nineteen warnings were issued, four fines handed out ranging from €1,000 to €20,000. No signs of criminal infiltration. No spikes in public nuisance. By most measures, daily life in the participating cities looks the same as before.
In November 2025, Amsterdam Oost joined the experiment, bringing the total to 11 areas. That’s significant – Amsterdam’s coffeeshops are among the most visited in Europe.
What went wrong
The launch itself was messy. On day one, only five of the ten designated growers were able to deliver. In the weeks before launch, coffeeshop organisations sent a letter to mayors describing the situation as “unworkable” – they were short on affordable flower, quality hashish, pre-rolled joints, edibles, and the popular strains customers actually ask for (Amnesia, White Widow).
The government had to allow coffeeshops to continue buying from illegal suppliers during the transition period. The ban on selling illegal hashish was pushed back from April 7 to September 1, 2025, to give growers time to ramp up production.
Hashish has been the biggest headache. Moroccan hash accounts for roughly 20% of Dutch cannabis consumption, but import restrictions mean it can’t be sourced legally. The Dutch-made hashish produced for the experiment has been described as stronger and more expensive than what customers were used to, and without the CBD content traditional Moroccan hash tends to have – something you’ll find in legal CBD hash sold across Europe today. By September 2025, local hash supply had improved, but the import question remains unresolved.
The politics
The experiment has broad parliamentary support. A motion to shut it down was rejected, with only a small number of seats voting in favour. The main risk to the experiment is political – when the Dutch government fell in June 2025, the cannabis pilot was placed on the list of “controversial topics,” meaning it couldn’t be modified without new political agreements.
Internationally, the experiment has attracted attention. In December 2025, Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group acquired CanAdelaar for €67 million – a clear signal that international investors see a future in European regulated cannabis.
What it means for the rest of Europe
The wietexperiment isn’t just a Dutch story. It’s effectively a live test of whether regulated adult-use cannabis can work in a European context – with all the legal, logistical, and political complexity that comes with it. Other countries are moving too – the Czech Republic’s legalization developments are another example of Europe slowly shifting.
If the evaluation at the end of 2029 is positive, the Netherlands could have a model worth exporting to every country where legalization is still being debated.
For now, one year in, the conclusion seems to be: regulation is complicated, the supply chain takes time to build, and hashish is harder than flower. But the experiment is running, the coffeeshops are selling, and the streets are quiet.
That’s more than many expected.
