Last updated on: 9/24/2019 | Author: ProCon.org

1976 – Marijuana Decriminalized in the Netherlands

“In 1976, the Netherlands adopted de facto decriminalization [of cannabis]. Under Dutch law, possession remains a crime, but the national policy of the Ministry of Justice is to not enforce that law. After 1980, a system of ‘coffee shops’ evolved in which the purchase of small quantities of cannabis by adults was informally tolerated and was then formally permitted in shops that were licensed.”