Health committee  We don't have that kind of market intelligence.

Health committee  We aren't aware of any e-cigarette manufacturing that happens in Canada. We certainly are aware that the vast majority of it is offshore, initially certainly in Asia. I think we're now seeing more happening in the United States. The vast majority of e-cigarettes would come into this country from abroad.

Health committee  We constantly review the scientific evidence as it comes out. I would say that on this particular issue there's new evidence very regularly that is starting to suggest certain directions, but I don't think anybody would say that we have the weight of evidence yet to be conclusive on any of these key issues.

Health committee  We don't have a specific fixed end date, but what I can tell you is that all the work is happening.

Health committee  I propose to give part of the answer and then turn it over to my colleague, Peter Brander, who can talk a little bit about our compliance enforcement approach that we have taken over the last number of years. The challenge that we face as a regulator is you need to be evidence-based in terms of what you do and what your approach is.

Health committee  No, I certainly don't want to create the impression that we've been waiting. We've been working with our provincial and territorial counterparts for a number of years now. We have a very detailed work plan with them that involves sharing the science and the regulatory approaches, because we don't exclusively act in this domain.

Health committee  Certainly, we've been developing the policy work that one has to do to propose a regulatory approach in cooperation with the provinces and territories as the science evolves. In the meantime, we've been using our existing tools.

Health committee  I would mention that at the federal-provincial-territorial health ministers meeting only last month this was on the agenda. Certainly, ministers gave direction to accelerate the cooperative approach that we have with the provinces and territories, so we are doing that. We are also informed by what the U.S. and the EU are doing.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good morning. My name is Hilary Geller. I'm the assistant deputy minister of the Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch of Health Canada. I'm joined here today by Suzy McDonald, the associate director general of the Controlled Substances and Tobacco Directorate within my branch; Dr.

Health committee  I don't think so. No, there isn't.

Health committee  No, there is not.

Health committee  The medical marijuana program is a result of various court decisions over the years, the first one over a decade ago. The program evolved in response to subsequent court decisions and has been overhauled and replaced with the new regime, which came into effect last June under a new set of marijuana for medical purposes regulations.

Health committee  What we've done to support health care practitioners who play a role in the system.... Without an authorization from a health care practitioner, an individual is not able to access marijuana for medical purposes. We've had an expert advisory committee, first in 2003, then in 2010, and updated in 2013, that has gone through all the evidence that's available and has come up with a document that's several inches thick and is similar to a product monograph, as much as possible, to help guide physicians and bring together all in one place an overview of the benefits, the harms, the risks, and the dosing, to the extent that the information is available to them.

Health committee  We are providing funding to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse on that issue, but I do have a Health Canada...Dr. Abramovici, who could speak a little bit more to that, if time allows.

Health committee  This is relatively new information on the admissions that we received from CIHI. As I understand it, marijuana is a factor that has been brought to the attention of the physician when they're admitted to the hospital. So it's not necessarily the reason that they're admitted, but it is a factor that is affecting what is happening with the patient and is a cause for what is going on.