Dutch Cannabis Legalization: Why Cronos Group Says the Netherlands Needs 3 or 4 More Grow Sites

An interview at the farm Cronos just bought

Gorenstein gave the interview at CanAdelaar's greenhouse in Hellevoetsluis, days after Cronos Group completed its acquisition of the grower for a base price of 57.5 million euros, with further performance linked payments due for 2026 and 2027, according to cannabisindustrie.nl and DutchNews.nl. CanAdelaar is the largest of the licensed growers in the Dutch cannabis experiment and supplies cannabis to nearly all the coffeeshops taking part, per DutchNews.nl. The company has also invested about 3.5 million euros in odour control filters at the Hellevoetsluis site, according to cannabisindustrie.nl.

At least three or four more cannabis plantations will be needed in the Netherlands for full legalization. | Mike Gorenstein, CEO of Cronos Group | https://cannabisindustrie.nl/ceo-cronos-group-bij-volledige-legalisering-minstens-drie-of-vier-extra-teeltlocaties-nodig/

The experiment behind the comment

Gorenstein's remark concerns the Experiment Gesloten Coffeeshopketen (closed coffeeshop chain experiment), which started on 7 April 2025 and runs for four years in ten municipalities: Almere, Arnhem, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Zaanstad, according to the Dutch government's own page on the experiment, rijksoverheid.nl. Around 70 of the roughly 562 coffeeshops in the Netherlands currently take part, buying their cannabis only from a small number of licensed growers instead of the previously tolerated informal supply, per DutchNews.nl and cannabisindustrie.nl. The goal is to test whether a fully regulated supply chain, from cultivation to the counter, can work safely before any decision on nationwide legalization.

10 licensed growers | currently supply the Dutch cannabis experiment | https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/familie-zorg-en-gezondheid/experiment-gesloten-coffeeshopketen-wietexperiment/aanleiding-en-opzet-experiment-gesloten-coffeeshopketen

What 'three or four more farms' would actually mean

Gorenstein did not give a precise national total, only that three or four more sites would be needed 'at least' for full legalization, per cannabisindustrie.nl's report on the interview. The interview does not make clear whether he meant three or four in addition to today's licensed growers or a different baseline altogether, and no Dutch ministry or regulator has adopted this figure. It is one cannabis company's estimate, offered days after that company became the experiment's largest supplier, not a government plan.

The 5 gram limit stays, for now

Coffeeshops in the experiment can still sell a maximum of 5 grams of cannabis per customer per day. Gorenstein told De Volkskrant that Cronos will not push to remove this limit, and instead wants to win over people who still buy on the illegal market by being transparent about where its products come from and what they contain, according to cannabisindustrie.nl. The experiment itself runs until 2029: an evaluation is due in 2028, and the cabinet then decides on what happens next.

What this means if you buy CBD instead of THC cannabis

This story is about the regulated THC cannabis market sold through Dutch coffeeshops, a different legal category from the CBD products we sell at Odile.green, which stay under the EU's 0.3% THC limit and can already be ordered and delivered across the EU without any of the licensing questions raised here. For more on how the two markets differ, our piece on Amsterdam's plan to ban tourists from coffee shops covers the coffeeshop side in more detail. On our own shelves, the CBD Flower Mix and CBD Hash Royal are a legal way to try good flower and hash from home, wherever you are in Europe.