HHC legal or not in the Netherlands? 

Many webshops are shouting “HHC is banned as of yesterday.”
Is that true?
No. Here’s the what, how and why—in plain language, backed by the chemistry.

What actually changed yesterday?

From 00:00 on 1 July 2025 the amended Opium Act is live.
The change adds a brand-new List IA that bans entire “substance-groups” instead of naming single molecules. A separate Royal Decree (Stb. 2025 82) fixed that start-date.

Inside List IA you will find Substance-group 2: “Cannabimimetics / Synthetic cannabinoids.”
This group is built around a template molecule meant for so-called “Spice” drugs.

The template, decoded (chemist’s view)

All four pieces must be present in the right places; miss one and the molecule falls outside List IA.

Why HHC, HHCO, HHCP, THCP, THCB, THCH and THC-C8, etc. don’t fit

• These compounds keep the classic dibenzopyran (THC) skeleton—two fused benzene rings plus an oxygen bridge.

• They have no indole/indazole/benzimidazole head ring (fails the A-core test).

• They have no separate carbonyl/amide bridge (the rings are already fused).

• Their side chain is attached to a different carbon than the List IA template demands.

Result: the legal Lego blocks simply don’t snap together, so the entire “HHC and THC family (except THC itself)” slips past Substance-group 2.

List II doesn’t rescue the ban either: it only outlaws Δ⁹-THC and its exact isomers. Hydrogenating THC (→ HHC) or stretching the tail (→ THCP, THCH, etc.) changes the atomic formula; they’re not isomers.

Timing tells the story

Take-away: the legal blueprint was written before regulators even knew HHC existed in Europe, so the molecule was never on the drafting table.

Bottom line for retailers & consumers

• As of today, 2 July 2025, HHC and its analogues remain legal under Dutch narcotics law.

• The Minister can still add a new cannabinoid substance-group to List IA by decree—so keep an eye on the Staatsblad—but no such step has been taken yet.

In short: yesterday’s law targeted “Spice-type” synthetics, not the semi-synthetic or chain-tweaked cannabinoids derived from hemp. Spread the word and stay informed.