Finance committee  Every year, tobacco use results in $4.4 billion in direct health care costs. The total, including indirect economic costs and health care costs, is $17 billion. So we will improve health and reduce illness and mortality, while also doing something very positive for the economy.

Finance committee  With regard to cannabis, a great deal can of course be learned from the experience with tobacco, whether it be regulation, education or developing a global system and strategy, in particular as regards cannabis use by youth. Bill C-45 can do a great deal to control advertising, packaging, and illicit trade.

Finance committee  You want to spend it on effective initiatives, but those are available. We know what to do, and a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy is the best way to do it.

Finance committee  I think the warnings on the package are really important, because people see them every day of every year, 20 times a day, every time they take out their pack. The kids may see the packages of their parents. Many new Canadians may come from parts of the world where awareness of the health effects is much less than in Canada.

Finance committee  There is extensive evidence. It's summarized by the best practices of the U.S. office on smoking and health at the Centers for Disease Control. We have long-term experience, particularly in California and Massachusetts, and it works. Many Canadians would be surprised to know that we no longer have any mass media campaigns from Health Canada discouraging smoking.

Finance committee  I don't think we're anywhere close to it, but I think you're right about the location of the illegal factories close to major urban centres in Ontario and Quebec. I think those have to be targeted. B.C., the western provinces, are able to sustain far higher tobacco taxes without the level of contraband seen in Ontario and Quebec.

Finance committee  They certainly reduce smoking. Ontario and Quebec have a low—

Finance committee  Higher tobacco taxes certainly reduce smoking, especially among kids, who are more price sensitive. The issue we have in contraband today in Canada is because of illegal factories located on a handful of reserves in Ontario and Quebec. That's the source for the bulk of the contraband that we have.

Finance committee  The federal government collects $3.25 billion in tobacco taxes and spends $38 million on prevention. In the past, it was higher. We're talking about $72 million. Today, it's only $1.04 per person in Canada. However, in the United States, it's $3.60 per person in Canadian dollars.

Finance committee  I think the carcinogenic contents of the smoke are similar. The difference tends to be how much people consume, meaning the dose response. Most people smoke a small number of marijuana cigarettes per month compared to tobacco cigarettes. If somebody were smoking a comparable number of marijuana cigarettes, the risk could be similar, but there aren't that many people who do that.

Finance committee  There are no actual regulations for tobacco cigarettes—and marijuana cigarettes vary. They're not all the same. It may very well be the case that a marijuana cigarette is smoked more intensely than a tobacco cigarette.

Finance committee  A similar regime for marijuana?

Finance committee  Yes, I think there is going to be a level of marijuana tax. One of the important things in the bill is that you get to design the system from the get-go to prevent contraband. There is a measure to have better markings and better tracking and tracing systems from seed to sale, which don't currently exist even for tobacco.

Finance committee  British Columbia has done very well compared to other provinces in terms of having lower levels of contraband. In fact, there are no illicit sales on first nations reserves in B.C., or the western provinces, with regard to the smoke shacks that are widely prevalent in Ontario and Quebec.

Finance committee  There is some contraband that exists. Compared to 2009, it has gone down. There are some contraband prevention measures available that we would support, such as better controls on the raw materials like filters and leaf tobacco, to have them being intercepted prior to getting to the unlicensed factories.