The Netherlands has a policy of tolerance. The starting point is that a separation of the soft and hard drugs market will benefit public health. The policy of tolerance means that the Netherlands tolerates the sale of hashish and weed under a number of strict conditions, despite the opium law criminalising the production, possession and sale of cannabis. The conditions of toleration are set out in a number of criteria. A company that does not comply with these rules risks a temporary or permanent closure and often a fine. The government controls more strictly and with greater regularity than in other industries.
The letters in the abbreviation AHOJG represent the conditions that cannabis companies must meet in order to operate within the toleration policy.
A – Poster ring; a cannabis company does not advertise the company or the products. H – Hard drug
s; a cannabis company operates in a strictly segregated market and sells cannabis and no alcohol or other (hard) drugs. O – Nuisance;
a cannabis company does not cause any inconvenience to the environment, so no nuisance due to wrongly parked cars, noisy traffic or groups of loitering youths. J – Youn
g people; a cannabis company does not allow young people under the age of 18 and strictly supervises
this. G – Large quantities; a cannabis company does not sell more than five grams per day to a person.