Huge legal cannabis farm told to cut smell or risk closure

By Billy Stockwell, Catherine Nicholls, CNN

(CNN) — A massive legal cannabis farm in the Netherlands has been told to reduce the odor coming from its facility or risk closure after more than 2,000 complaints from hundreds of residents, according to a regional Dutch environmental agency.

If the farm fails to sufficiently limit the smell, CanAdelaar – the company that operates the farm – could face fines of up to €3.5 million ($4.1 million) or risk being shut down, local authorities said after a court ruling earlier this week.

The farm is located west of the Netherlands’ second largest city Rotterdam. It opened in 2023 as part of a government scheme permitting several companies to grow cannabis under strict conditions, said DCMR Environmental Protection Agency, which monitors the business on behalf of the municipality of Voorne aan Zee, where the farm is located.

Reports of “odor nuisance” were received immediately after the farm’s opening, DCMR said in a statement first published in December but amended Wednesday.

“By August 2025, DCMR had received approximately 2,000 reports from nearly 300 different residents,” the agency said. Rotterdam’s judiciary court said in a statement Wednesday that more than 2,000 complaints had been filed.

The company has previously promised to implement “odor mitigation measures” to tackle the issue, according to DCMR.

According to DCMR, inspectors observed “odor nuisance” during multiple inspections and concluded that the company was “not always” complying with the appropriate regulations. As a result, Voorne aan Zee municipality imposed customized regulations on the farm to reduce odor, DCMR said.

On Wednesday, a preliminary relief judge ruled that the regulations could remain in effect and gave the company one week to “take measures or cease operations,” according to DCMR.

“The judge emphasized that it is undesirable for the odor nuisance to continue. He noted that the odor nuisance has been very severe since 2023,” DCMR said.

“He also doubts whether the measures proposed by CanAdelaar itself will bring sufficient improvement in the short term,” DCMR said of the judge’s comments.

The company’s director is confident they will meet the requirements, Dutch public broadcaster NOS said Wednesday, without naming him.

“We’ve been installing air filters since the beginning of the month,” he told NOS, “and more are on the way. I think we are on the right track to further limiting the nuisance.”

CanAdelaar is the largest legal cannabis producer in the Netherlands and operates a greenhouse complex the size of seven soccer pitches, NOS reported.

CNN has contacted CanAdelaar for comment.

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