This is a bill by Vera Bergkamp amending the Opium Act in order to tolerate the cultivation and sale of hemp and hashish via a closed coffee shop chain (Act closed coffeeshop chain)

D66 recently submitted a private member's bill which seeks to regulate the back door of the coffee shop.

This initiative bill seeks to put an end to the paradoxical policy that allows the backdoor of coffeeshops to stay unregulated. Cultivation and sale of cannabis should be regulated via a closed and taxable coffeeshop chain in which the interests of public health and public policy, the overall safety of persons and goods and legal certainty should be ensured and improved. What aspect about home growing for personal use would be regulated remains unclear. Also the reasons for not chosing a T - crop tolerance criterion remains unclear. With a T-criterion the OM (Public Prosecution Office) is in fact also held to a policy directive regarding the cultivation of cannabis.

On November 3, 2016, the fractions in the Tweede Kamer (Dutch Parliament) had an opportunity to submit written questions about the legal text and the Explanatory Memorandum. Answering these by MP Vera Bergkamp is a part of the further parliamentary debate on this bill. The SP and PvdA also want to hold a hearing into the Second Chamber because of this bill.

It is also the question whether the parlementairy majority that seems to be emerging is possible in the first chamber like itis in the second chamber. This is what is needed to change the legislature. Add to that the upcoming elections that could change the political landscape and seat distributions. In any case, it seems that the issue is here to stay and will not disappear from the political agenda.