Six in 10 people in the Netherlands think the production, supply and sale of marijuana and hashish should be legal, with just 11% accepting that the current strategy works, according to new research by Kieskompas and news agency ANP.

Currently, it is illegal to grow marijuana commercially, although police will seldom take action over up to four plants. It is also technically illegal to supply and sell the drug, but officials turn a blind eye to its sale in licenced cannabis cafes, known as coffeeshops.

In total, a “representative group” of some 6,500 people completed the Kieskompas survey. Support for legalization was highest in Groningen and Flevoland provinces, at 70%. People in Drenthe and Zeeland were least likely to support the idea. They were also most likely to call for sales to be stopped, rather than ignored.

People who voted GroenLinks-PvdA, Volt or Partij voor de Dieren are most likely to back full legalization, while the backers of fundamentalist party SGP were by far the least likely to do so.

Experiments with regulating production have started in Tilburg and Breda and are due to be expanded at some point this year, if the next government approves. MPs have said the trial can proceed.

The experiment aims to assess if cannabis cafes can operate legally by buying the soft drug from official growers. Ten growers have been given licences to provide exclusive produce to coffeeshops in Breda and Tilburg, and then to coffeeshops in another eight municipalities this year, including Groningen and Maastricht.

The survey coincides with new legislation in Germany which has legalised marijuana use.