Dutch parliament votes to regulate marijuana cultivation

AMSTERDAM Dutch parliament voted on Tuesday to allow the cultivation of marijuana, effectively legalizing the country’s longstanding tolerance policy.

Until now marijuana had been technically illegal, but police declined to prosecute possession of amounts less than several grams. The vote to permit professional cultivation of the plant will allow the country’s “coffee shops”, which sell the drug openly, to have a legal source of supply.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Dominic Evans)