A guide to buying cannabis in The Netherlands.

Buy Cannabis In Amsterdam. The Netherlands has long been Europe’s cultural home of cannabis. Amsterdam has welcomed cannabis lovers for decades. With a large selection of coffeeshops and a tempting array of varieties, many cannabis tourists love visiting The Netherlands. While you are in The Netherlands, it helps to know the best ways to enjoy buying quality cannabis.

 

 

Enjoy ‘totally legal’ cannabis in Amsterdam (?)

If you do manage to visit Amsterdam, or any other Dutch city you should love the quality of the best cannabis on the menus. But it is a popular misconception to think that cannabis is totally legal. In reality cannabis use is tolerated, as are coffeeshop cannabis sales of under 5g. But cannabis itself remains illegal. All the cannabis bought by the coffeeshops is bought from black market sources. Many people hope that The Netherlands will lead the way with a future system of licensed cannabis production. But right now, despite decades of official tolerance there is still no general legal right to grow or use cannabis. Many pro-cannabis groups want to change that in the coming years.

Buying cannabis from the streets or the coffee shops?

One of the reasons that the Dutch introduced the coffee shop system in the 1970’s was to separate the purchase of soft drugs from hard drugs. Of the 443 local municipalities in The Netherlands, over 100 have at least one coffeeshop. Some places, such as Amsterdam, have many coffeeshops. In the coffeeshop you will be able to buy cannabis safely from the menu. Buying cannabis from a street dealer is definitely not recommended. Nor is it necessary when you have a coffeeshop. If you want to know what cannabis varieties are available in the Dutch coffeeshops, you can check out the coffeeshop menus online here.

Are all Dutch coffeeshops open to tourists?

In Amsterdam and many other cities, the coffeeshops are open to both tourists and locals. However, in 2012, a Dutch Judge ruled that local city councils can vote on whether to allow or ban tourists from using coffeeshops. Only a few areas in the south of The Netherlands have voted to ban tourists from using the coffeeshops. However, if you are a resident in The Netherlands you can buy cannabis even if you are not a local. Foreign workers or students can still buy cannabis from these coffeeshops so long as they are residents of The Netherlands. However, Dutch citizens that live across the border in Germany or Belgium are not allowed. Maastricht and Sittard-Geleen are two districts in the southern part of The Netherlands which do not welcome tourists into the coffeeshops.