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The Netherlands expanded a government-run initiative on Monday allowing legal cannabis sales. While growing cannabis is still illegal, cannabis shopsknown as coffeeshopsin 10 municipalities will be allowed to sell marijuana from 10 licensed producers. Weed was sold here legally for 50 years, but the production was never legal. So its finally time to end that crazy, unexplainable situation and make it a legal professional sector, Rick Bakker, commercial director at Hollandse Hoogtes, one of the regulated producers, told the Associated Press. Some 80 coffeeshops are taking part in the experiment which advocates hope this will ultimately end a long-standing legal anomalyyou can buy and sell small amounts of weed without fear of prosecution in the Netherlands, but growing it commercially remains illegal. Bakker’s company in Bemmel, near the German border, is indistinguishable from the surrounding greenhouses producing tomatoes and peppers. But it makes 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of weed per week and is one of the largest producers in the experiment. A trailblazer in decriminalizing pot since the 1970s, the Netherlands has grown more conservative. Amsterdam, long a magnet for marijuana smokers, has been closing coffeeshops in recent years and has banned smoking weed on some of the cobbled streets that make up its historic center. Advocates have been pushing for a legal growing for years, citing the safety of the product as well as concerns about crime. Benjamin Selma, the head grower at Hollandse Hoogtes who worked in cannabis production in California for more than a decade, said the quality control for the cannabis is extremely high. We do a full test, microbial, cannabinoid, terpene, as well as yeast and anaerobic bacteria, heavy metals as well. So its very, very controlled, he told the AP. The company, which does not use pesticides and tightly regulates growing conditions, has an eye to the environment. The production facility gets its energy from solar panels and uses biodegradable packaging. It is also a great opportunity to see how cooperation within the closed chain between legal growers, coffeeshop owners and all other authorities involved works, Breda Mayor Paul Depla told the AP when the first phase was launched in 2023. The experiment “is really a political compromise, according to Derrick Bergman, chairman of the Union for the Abolition of Cannabis Prohibition. The plan dates to 2017, when Christian political parties and pro-legalization parties agreed to a test run after a bill to decriminalize production failed. The government will evaluate the experiment after four years. A research team, advised by an independent guidance and evaluation committee, is examining the effects of a controlled cannabis supply chain on crime, safety and public health, the government said in a statement. Selma said he is happy to be working without concerns about prosecution. Ive seen some bad moments, he said, and I dont know if I ever believed I would be so free. The coffeeshops taking part in the initiative are located in Almere, Arnhem, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg, and Zaanstad. Molly Quell, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Jesse Schiller and Rachel Evans are likely the only business owners on Australia’s Norfolk Island to be directly affected by the Trump administration’s tariffs, as the South Pacific outpost they call home exports nothing to the United States. The Canadian couple, both aged 41, own a business that makes plastic-free hair accessories under the brand Kooshoo. Vancouver-born Schiller said he and his Norfolk Island-born wife are likely the only business owners on the island that will pay elevated tariffsand they will pay at the rates imposed on Japan and India, where the goods are manufactured. Around 80% of Kooshoos business is with the United States. Kooshoo means feeling good in the English-Tahitian creole known as Norfk or Norfuk thats spoken among this remote population of 2,000 people 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Sydney. Were probably the most affected business on Norfolk Island, Schiller said. Norfolk Island was a shock inclusion in the Trump administrations list of global tariffs announced last week that was intended to redress U.S. trade deficits with the world. While Australia and its external territories were assigned the global minimum 10% tariff, including the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands in the Antarctic region, Norfolk Island was singled out for a 29% tariff. I think Norfolk became a parable of sorts for the lack of nuance with which these tariffs went out in the world, Schiller said. Schiller and Evans, a Canadian-Australian dual national, have the consolation of being dealt slightly lower tariffs: Japan has been assigned a 24% tariff and India 26%. Why Norfolk Island came in for such severe and apparently futile tariff treatment has been a popular topic of conversation among locals. Its been a question of great intrigue locally, Schiller said. An early theoryand it seems to be proving rightis that there are other notable Norfolks in the world. Norfolk, of course, in the U.K., Norfolk in Virginia in the U.S., and it seems as though some improperly labeled customs paperwork may have contributed to the . . . error, Schiller said. That couldve been very easily fact-checked, he added. His wife, Evans, has an impressive Norfolk Islander lineage. She is a 9th generation descendant of a crewman of the British naval ship HMS Bounty who mutinied in 1789, although her mother is Canadian. The mutineers, whose exploits have been dramatized in Hollywood movies, established a settlement on Pitcairn Islands and their descendants later settled the former British penal colony of Norfolk Island. She said the sustainable lifestyle she had learned from growing up on such an isolated island around 8 kilometers (5 miles) long and 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide had been part of the brand since they started their business in Vancouver 15 years ago. She was confident their business would survive the latest trade barriers. Definitely for the short-term well figure out a way to bridge this, Evans said. Associated Press
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E-Commerce
U.S. consumer spending for Easter is expected to rise about 5% this year as Americans snap up candy and gifts to celebrate despite concerns around high inflation and economic uncertainty, a National Retail Federation report showed on Tuesday. Shoppers are expected to spend around $23.6 billion this year, compared with $22.4 billion estimated last year, the trade body’s survey showed, with discount stores once again poised to be the top destination for Easter shopping. Prices of eggs, traditionally used for Easter decor and games, have nearly doubled from last year as avian influenza wiped out millions of hens and led to a shortage of eggs in February. Retail bellwether Walmart left out eggs from its yearly Easter promotional meal kit, shared late last month at a lower price than 2024. President Donald Trump‘s sweeping tariffs on several trade partners have also raised fears of a recession, casting a pall on consumer sentiment in the United States. However, retailers such as Target and dollar stores that enjoyed an upbeat December quarter thanks to robust Christmas spending have said consumers are expected to shop for Easter with similar interest. “As we witnessed throughout the pandemic, holidays such as Easter are especially meaningful for Americans during times of uncertainty. And we are continuing to see that trend as consumers prioritize their Easter celebrations this year,” said Katherine Cullen, NRF vice president of industry and consumer insights. “From other holidays NRF tracks, we know that consumers who are feeling constrained by higher prices or the economy may cut back in other areas, look to sales or find less costly substitutes in order to preserve their traditional celebrations.” NRF’s forecast said a majority of consumers were expected to shop inspired by tradition to buy Easter-related items, while 36% were also expected to be influenced by sales and promotions. Candy, food and gifts are likely to be at the top of shopping lists this Easter, with consumers seen spending a total of $7.4 billion on food, $3.8 billion on gifts, and $3.3 billion on candy, the report said. Juveria Tabassum, Reuters
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E-Commerce
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