North Holland coffeeshops: Amsterdam and Haarlem, 39 listed

Street smoking, Haarlem and the trial town next door

Since May 25, 2023 smoking cannabis on the street is banned in the Wallen red-light district, with a €100 fine after a warning, and the ban also covers Dam Square, Damrak and Nieuwmarkt. Buying legally does not mean lighting up outside. Since July 1, 2022 smoking rooms are banned in hospitality venues nationwide, so tobacco cannot be smoked inside; pure cannabis can, and many shops now work as takeaway points.

• Limits: 5 grams per person per transaction; shops may hold at most 500 grams of stock and may not advertise beyond a sign.
• Haarlem: shops such as Maximillian on Gedempte Oude Gracht are a short train ride from the capital and follow the same national criteria under their own municipal policy.
• Zaanstad: the one North Holland municipality in the national controlled-supply experiment. Since April 7, 2025 its coffeeshops may sell only regulated cannabis from designated growers, and Verdex lists none there.
• Back door: Amsterdam and Haarlem are not in the experiment, so their shops still buy through the back door the tolerance policy leaves open.

The city's decision could change again: the residents-only criterion, in national policy since January 1, 2013, has never been applied in Amsterdam, and other towns enforce it. Check our Amsterdam visitor rules before you travel, and the coffeeshop menu explainer for what the board means.