Advice, guidance and evaluation of the experiment

During the Controlled Cannabis Supply Chain Experiment, the Minister of Justice and Security and the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport will be advised by two committees. The independent advisory committee, chaired by Professor André Knottnerus, provided recommendations regarding the set-up and design of the experiment. An independent guidance and evaluation committee has also been appointed.

Advisory committee recommendations

In 2018 the independent advisory committee published the report ‘An experiment with a closed cannabis chain'. The report contains recommendations about, among other things, requirements that the government can impose on experiment participants. It also includes recommendations on monitoring the observance and enforcement of the rules of the experiment and measuring the experiment’s effects.

The legislation for the experiment was drawn up in part on the basis of these recommendations. In the second quarter of 2019 the committee issued recommendations regarding which municipalities should participate in the experiment. See the report ‘Nominating municipalities for inclusion in the Controlled Cannabis Supply Chain Experiment' (in Dutch).

Tasks of the guidance and evaluation committee

Central government has appointed an independent guidance and evaluation committee for the experiment. Committee members include experts in the areas of public health, security and municipal administration and persons with expertise on conducting experiments. The Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) has appointed a number of independent researchers to monitor the experiment. The guidance and evaluation committee will advise the researchers in this process. The committee will use the research results for evaluation purposes and, where necessary, to advise the ministers.