Amsterdam -- A coalition of Dutch political parties unveiled a plan on Friday for a pilot programme for regulated marijuana farming, and threatened a showdown in parliament if the government tries to block it. Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner opposes authorised cannabis cultivation because it would set the Netherlands another step apart from the rest of Europe.

“The minister’s opinion is that this plan is in conflict with Dutch and international law,” said spokesman Wibbe Alkema.

Under current Dutch policy, marijuana and hashish are theoretically illegal but police don’t fine smokers for possession of less than 5 grams or prosecute for possession of less than 30 grams. Authorities look the other way at the open sale of cannabis in designated “coffee shops.”

But growers are subject to raids and prosecution, giving rise to a contradictory system where shop owners have no legal way to purchase their best-selling product.

Growers often operate from underground greenhouses in homes and garages. Critics say this leads to the theft of electricity in unsafe circumstances, causing fires and bringing criminality into residential neighborhoods.

Under the test programme, to be conducted near the southern city of Maastricht, existing health and safety standards will apply to growers.

Coffee shops would be required to provide consumers with information about the health hazards of smoking and about the chemical content of the weed they buy.

Lawmaker Frans Weekers, whose conservative VVD party recently swung its support to the proposed programme, said the current policy is “hypocritical and leading to increasing problems.”

“There comes a moment when you say, ’now we have to take the next step’,” Weekers told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. “If this pilot programme works, and we can show to everyone that it’s an improvement, then you have a good argument to take to foreign governments.”

He added that there was no support at all for criminalizing marijuana among either politicians or Dutch society.

After 30 years of tolerating marijuana, its rates in the Netherlands is in the middle of international norms. According to data from various governments compiled by Trimbos, the Netherlands’ Institute for Health and Addiction, Dutch rates are higher than those in Scandinavia but lower than those in the United States and Britain.

Dutch mayors along the country’s borders have lobbied hardest for the change, facing problems from drugs tourists from Germany and Belgium who drive to the Netherlands to buy supplies.

Supporters say regulation of production, would, like regulating tobacco, make smuggling large quantities across the border more difficult.

“It will be possible to trace where cannabis is grown, and where it’s sold,” Weekers said.

It also could open the door to outright legalisation and taxation of the industry.

But Justice Ministry spokesman Alkema said in addition to questioning the legality of the plan, the minister doubts regulation would solve the problems.

“On the contrary, this plan could have a sucking effect, where even more foreign drugs buyers and drugs tourists are drawn here,” he said.

Weekers estimated the plan will be approved by two-thirds of the Dutch parliament, building consensus across the political spectrum, as happened before the adoption of other progressive Dutch policies such as legalising euthanasia and gay marriage.

The next step is a major debate on drugs policy scheduled for later this month.

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