I · The Rules · 01
Never allowed, always tolerated
Legality & the tolerance policy
Is weed legal in Amsterdam, and can tourists buy it?
Strictly speaking, no: cannabis is illegal in the Netherlands but tolerated. Anyone aged 18 or over, tourists included, can buy up to 5 grams a day from a licensed coffeeshop with valid ID. Anywhere else, buying or selling is still illegal. The city has more than once debated closing coffeeshops to foreign visitors; at the time of writing (October 2026) that has not happened, so check the news before you travel.
Cannabis is not legal in the Netherlands. It's tolerated. That sounds like a technicality, but it's the distinction that built Amsterdam. Since the 1970s, prosecutors have deliberately looked the other way on coffeeshop sales, under strict conditions, not because it's permitted, but because it works. Never allowed, always tolerated. That's the thread running through this city's entire history.
In practice it works like this. Anyone aged 18 or over with valid ID can buy up to five grams a day from a licensed coffeeshop (see entries 02 and 03). Buying or selling anywhere else stays illegal, and so does taking it out of the country (see entry 09).
Insider note: The Dutch word is gedogen. There's no direct English equivalent. That's the point.