The Dutch call it "gedoogd", meaning tolerated. It is tolerated that you own small quantities for personal use and usage within your home or the coffeeshop itself. For me, only tourists and low-lives actually walk in the streets with a spiff. And yes, the police will probably comment on that.

The coffeeshop is allowed to sell small quantities per customer, I think up to 5 grams, but not sure. Nevertheless, they are not allowed to buy it, so their purchasing is illegal in any case. It's a very weird law all around....

There are only a handful of coffeeshops allowed to sell both MJ and alcohol, for example, because it is really difficult to get the proper papers-

The people growing in the Netherlands are just as illegal as they are anywhere else, and they do get busted. If you are growing 2-3 plants on your balcony, nothing much will happen, but the real rooms or appartments are facing serious charges in the Netherlands as well. The thing is, the bigger growers are not MJ lovers, but almost always connected.

We were offered a grow share once, where you put up 2.000â?¬ and get 10.000â?¬ after 2-3 months when everything is harvested - unless, of course, the appartment is being busted. Sounds like easy money, but I am very glad my former bf did not take it.

My main reason for starting to grow myself is that I refuse to hand my money to big time criminals or having to associate with serious crime just for a smoke. That unfortunately is the same in the Netherlands - the money goes mostly to organized crime or people connected to crime. Nevertheless, I am acutely aware of the fact that what I am doing is illegal in Germany - and I will take care to have no more than 2-4 plants in a stealth cab setup... If they then bust me, nothing much will happen to me - I luckily live in a state that is pretty lenient. Where I live, the rules are pretty much the same as in the Netherlands - the police CAN, but do not have to, arrest you if caught with a small amount of MJ... and they usually don't.