Bill C-45 (Historical)

Cannabis Act

An Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other Acts

This enactment enacts the Cannabis Act to provide legal access to cannabis and to control and regulate its production, distribution and sale.
The objectives of the Act are to prevent young persons from accessing cannabis, to protect public health and public safety by establishing strict product safety and product quality requirements and to deter criminal activity by imposing serious criminal penalties for those operating outside the legal framework. The Act is also intended to reduce the burden on the criminal justice system in relation to cannabis.
The Act
(a) establishes criminal prohibitions such as the unlawful sale or distribution of cannabis, including its sale or distribution to young persons, and the unlawful possession, production, importation and exportation of cannabis;
(b) enables the Minister to authorize the possession, production, distribution, sale, importation and exportation of cannabis, as well as to suspend, amend or revoke those authorizations when warranted;
(c) authorizes persons to possess, sell or distribute cannabis if they are authorized to sell cannabis under a provincial Act that contains certain legislative measures;
(d) prohibits any promotion, packaging and labelling of cannabis that could be appealing to young persons or encourage its consumption, while allowing consumers to have access to information with which they can make informed decisions about the consumption of cannabis;
(e) provides for inspection powers, the authority to impose administrative monetary penalties and the ability to commence proceedings for certain offences by means of a ticket;
(f) includes mechanisms to deal with seized cannabis and other property;
(g) authorizes the Minister to make orders in relation to matters such as product recalls, the provision of information, the conduct of tests or studies, and the taking of measures to prevent non-compliance with the Act;
(h) permits the establishment of a cannabis tracking system for the purposes of the enforcement and administration of the Act;
(i) authorizes the Minister to fix, by order, fees related to the administration of the Act; and
(j) authorizes the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting such matters as quality, testing, composition, packaging and labelling of cannabis, security clearances and the collection and disclosure of information in respect of cannabis as well as to make regulations exempting certain persons or classes of cannabis from the application of the Act.
This enactment also amends the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to, among other things, increase the maximum penalties for certain offences and to authorize the Minister to engage persons having technical or specialized knowledge to provide advice. It repeals item 1 of Schedule II and makes consequential amendments to that Act as the result of that repeal.
In addition, it repeals Part XII.‍1 of the Criminal Code, which deals with instruments and literature for illicit drug use, and makes consequential amendments to that Act.
It amends the Non-smokers’ Health Act to prohibit the smoking and vaping of cannabis in federally regulated places and conveyances.
Finally, it makes consequential amendments to other Acts.

[Dr. Sharon Levy, Director, Adolescent Substance Abuse Program, Boston Children's Hospital, As an Individual]

Thank you very much for the opportunity to comment on Bill C-45, an act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other acts. As a developmental behavioural pediatrician and a researcher in the field of adolescent substance use, I'm concerned about the potential impact of these changes, specifically on the health of children and adolescents.

I've served as the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics' national committee on substance use and prevention, and I've been the director of the adolescent substance abuse program at Boston Children's Hospital since its inception in 2000. Over the past 17 years, I've evaluated and treated hundreds of teens with substance use disorders, and while many of my comments have already been said in one form or another, I'd like to speak from personal experience.

Cannabis is an addictive drug that's particularly harmful to developing adolescent brains. Teens that consume cannabis have poorer life outcomes on a number of measures. They have more mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and psychosis. As a group, they complete less school and are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than are their peers. These harms are distinctly different from the harms of use of other substances, such as tobacco, alcohol, and opioids, but they're no less serious or consequential.

As the director of an adolescent substance use disorders program serving youth aged 12 to 25, I work regularly with children and young adults who use cannabis. In fact, more than 90% of patients we see in our program have a cannabis use disorder. While almost all of them started their drug use histories with cannabis, few stick to one drug alone. Almost all of our patients in treatment for heroin addiction first used cannabis, and most use it very heavily.

We've treated a number of teen cannabis users who've developed schizophrenia right in front of our eyes, and who will never be able to care for themselves or live independently. We don't know what would have happened to them if they hadn't used cannabis, but the science and the statistics made us wonder if they might have had a different life had it not been for a completely preventable risk factor.

More commonly, we see again and again adolescents whose cannabis use more subtly impedes them. Two patients with similar histories paint a very clear picture of cannabis addiction. Both were good students in high school and were accepted to elite universities, where they began using cannabis heavily and ended up failing out. Both blame their changing academic status on heavy cannabis use. All four of their parents have been devastated. One of the fathers confided about adjusting his own hopes and expectations for his son. A few short years ago, he had envisioned his son becoming a successful professional. Now, he simply hopes he'll be able to function well enough to support himself.

The list goes on and on, with many adolescents that I care for falling short of their own educational goals, being underemployed, and struggling with mental health disorders while their families watch and wonder about their future.

Bill C-45 would prohibit the sale or marketing of cannabis to adolescents and young adults under the age of 18, and legalization is often proposed as a mechanism to reduce youth access by taxing and regulating cannabis, raising the price, eliminating the black market, and making shop owners gatekeepers. This approach has failed with other substances in the past. Marketing restrictions have historically been of limited utility when tested against the potential for substantial profits. While it's illegal for tobacco companies to market cigarettes to children, the familiar story of Joe Camel is a good example of how pernicious advertising can be.

In the U.S., the experience in Colorado, which was one of the first two states to legalize cannabis, is instructive. The number of teen users in Colorado increased by 20% in the two years immediately following legalization, while falling by 4% in the rest of the country. As a developmental pediatrician and also the parent of two teenaged children, I do not find these findings at all surprising. The retail sale of cannabis serves to normalize use. Teens are very responsive to cultural trends. When cannabis use is condoned, teens are more likely to use it. To argue otherwise is simply unreasonable from a developmental perspective.

In the U.S., evolving cannabis policies have resulted in changes to cannabis itself. The concentration of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, has increased dramatically over the past three decades, exposing users to higher levels of this drug than ever before. That's one of the reasons the science has been so tricky to pin down, because the product is actually changing. New edible products, including cookies, candies, and sodas have appeared on the market and are sold under the umbrella of marijuana.

Now, this market expansion is to be expected, because creating new and improved products is a tried-and-true technique for boosting sales, constantly inviting new users to try, and old users to add, new products to their repertoire.

Dabbing, a newly popular way of using cannabis, results in extremely high blood levels of THC. Higher THC exposure produces more euphoria and also causes more medical problems. In our clinical practice, kids are coming in with new problems that we rarely saw 10 years ago. Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, which causes recurrent vomiting, was once rare but is now quite common in our practice. Psychiatric symptoms and complaints have also increased. Many of our patients have heard voices, experienced delusions, or become anxious and paranoid with cannabis use. In a study that our group is currently conducting in our primary care centre, more than 25% of cannabis users report that they've hallucinated while using cannabis, and more than 30% report having been paranoid.

As a pediatrician, I find these numbers terrifying. While there's been limited study of these questions in the past, our clinical experience suggests that these rates are increasing, just as would be expected with ever-increasing drug exposure.

Drawing from my experience as both a researcher and a clinician, I'd like to offer the following suggestions. First off, I recommend delivering clear messages to youth that avoiding cannabis use is best for their health. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society both oppose marijuana legalization, and encourage parents, health care providers, teachers, and other adults to give clear and unambiguous guidance to children.

Campaigns that educate the public in an attempt to prevent use or delay initiation could be beneficial. For example, the Truth Initiative campaign that targeted tobacco use was remarkably successful in shifting the public perception of tobacco from glamorous to repulsive. Rates of tobacco use plummeted over the past 20 years with the stigmatization of smoking. Cannabis is well known as a psychoactive substance that's particularly detrimental to developing adolescent brains. Although misconceptions that cannabis is “healthy because it's natural” or “safe because it's legal” have cultural traction, they're false. They require ongoing strong messaging of evidence to the contrary.

Age restrictions are effective at reducing youth substance use. In the U.S., the enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which effectively raised the drinking age to 21 in all 50 states, resulted in a 16% reduction in motor vehicle accidents. This was as a direct result of lower alcohol consumption. Canada, which has a lower drinking age, also has the highest rate of problem alcohol use in the Americas. These facts support higher minimum age limits as a good public health strategy.

Innovations to cannabis-based products are public health risks, particularly for adolescents. It may be that addictive substances need completely new policy approaches. Novel regulatory schemes that control or eliminate profits, control prices, and conduct surveillance at both the individual and population level should be considered. This type of approach would be expensive and would require unprecedented collaboration between branches of government and other sectors of society. History and current evidence suggest that simply legalizing cannabis and giving free rein to the industry that it will engender would be to entrust private industry with safeguarding the health of the public, a role that industry is not well designed to handle.

Finally, we need more clinicians trained to treat adolescents with cannabis addiction. This will require financial support. With the legalization of marijuana in Canada, there will be a pressing need for health care providers specialized in youth addictions and treatment of adolescent substance use disorders. I am pleased to report that the first physician to acquire specialized training in pediatric addiction medicine in all of North America is a Canadian. They are currently training at Boston Children's Hospital. Much more support and many more funded training spots and training programs are needed.

Thank you for listening and for the opportunity to address this panel.

[Dr. Eileen de Villa]

That's okay. I'm fairly flexible with the title, although I did work hard to get it.

Good afternoon, and thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the opportunity to speak with you today.

As you heard, I am Dr. Eileen de Villa, and I am the medical officer of health for the City of Toronto, where I serve the 2.8 million residents of our very fine city.

I should point out that my comments here today represent not just my views, but also the views of Toronto Public Health and the Toronto Board of Health and are restricted to the proposed legislation for non-medical cannabis.

Just to kick off, I'd like to say that we do support the goal of Bill C-45 to provide Canadians with legal access to cannabis and, in doing so, ending the practice of criminalizing people who consume cannabis for non-medical purposes.

As you've heard from presenters thus far, the science on cannabis is indeed still emerging. We do know that it's not a benign substance. We know that it's a psychoactive substance with known harms of use. It's therefore imperative, in my opinion and in that of my organization, that the development of a regulatory framework be guided by public health principles to balance legal access to cannabis with reducing harms of use.

As you've heard already from some of the other witnesses before you today, there is health evidence that shows that smoking cannabis is linked to a number of health conditions, respiratory disorders, including bronchitis and cancer. It's also known to impair memory, attention span, and other cognitive functioning. It impairs psychomotor abilities, including motor coordination and divided attention. These are relevant public health concerns because of their connection to impaired driving in particular.

You've also heard that heavy cannabis use during adolescence has been linked to more serious and long-lasting outcomes such as greater likelihood of developing dependence and impairments in memory and verbal learning. In addition, the risk of dependence increases when use is initiated in adolescence, as rightfully pointed out by Dr. Maté.

As you may know, motor vehicle accidents are the main contributor to Canada's burden of disease and injury when it comes to cannabis. A recent study revealed that many Canadian youth consider cannabis to be less impairing than alcohol; however, as mentioned earlier, the psychoactive effects of cannabis can negatively affect the cognitive and psychomotor skills needed for driving.

In addition to strengthening penalties for impaired driving by amending the Criminal Code as put forward in Bill C-45, preventing canabis-impaired driving will require targeted public education. It's my understanding that the Government of Canada is preparing a public campaign to raise awareness about drug-impaired driving. Toronto Public Health would recommend that the government use evidence-informed messaging targeting youth and young adults in particular and launch this campaign without delay.

Further, I would recommend that the government support municipalities, provinces, and territories with local initiatives to discourage people from driving after consuming cannabis.

In its final recommendations to the government, the task force on cannabis legalization and regulation expressed concerns about the reliability of predicting impairment based on levels of THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis detected in samples of bodily fluids. These concerns have also been raised by other organizations, including those in the United States. I would recommend that the government make further investments in research and refinements to technology to better link THC levels with impairment and crash risk for developing evidence-informed standards.

The stated key objective of Bill C-45 to prevent young people from accessing cannabis is central to adopting a public health approach to the legalization of cannabis. We must apply lessons learned from tobacco and alcohol in developing the appropriate policy framework at all orders of government to prevent young people from using cannabis.

As mentioned by my colleague, evidence about tobacco advertising shows that it has an impact on youth smoking and that comprehensive advertising bans are most effective in reducing tobacco use and initiation. Personally, I welcome the requirements in Bill C-45 that maintain existing promotion and marketing rules in place for tobacco, including restrictions on point of sale promotion. We would also like to see these restrictions strengthened to include advertising in such venues as movies, video games, and other media, including online marketing and advertising, which are accessible to youth. Further, additional research on the impact of marketing and promotion is essential for making evidence-informed amendments to regulations and to develop prevention strategies. Federal funding should be targeted to this area.

Furthermore, we know that labelling and packaging are being used for promoting tobacco and tobacco brands. While I appreciate that Bill C-45 prohibits packaging and labelling of cannabis in a way that could be appealing to young people, a key omission in the act is a requirement for the plain packaging of retail cannabis products.

In a recent report, the Smoke-Free Ontario Scientific Advisory Committee identified plain packaging as a highly impactful tool for reducing tobacco use. The requirement for plain and standardized packaging for tobacco is currently being proposed in federal Bill S-5, and we recommend you do likewise for cannabis.

Fundamental to a public health approach for legalizing access to cannabis is regulating retail access. I am pleased with the Province of Ontario's recently announced intent to establish a provincially controlled agency for the retail sale and distribution of non-medical cannabis, separate from that for alcohol. A government-controlled retail and distribution system that is guided by public health objectives and social responsibility will ensure better control of health protective measures for cannabis use. I also urge your government to direct other provinces and territories to establish a retail and distribution system that is guided by public health principles and social responsibility.

I commend the government for not legalizing access to cannabis-based edible products until comprehensive regulations for its production, distribution, and sale have been developed. The experience in the United States cautions us of the challenges posed by edible cannabis products, including accidental consumption by children, overconsumption due to the delay in feeling the psychoactive effects, and in ensuring standardization of the potency of cannabis in edible products.

I would now like to draw your attention to some of the limitations of the existing cannabis research. While there is growing evidence about the health impacts of cannabis, some of the research findings are inconsistent or even contradictory, and causal relationships have not always been established. There is still much that we don't know. Most of the research to date has focused on frequent, chronic use, and the results must be interpreted in that context. More evidence is needed about occasional and moderate use, as this comprises the majority of cannabis use. I therefore urge you to earmark funding for research related to the full range of health impacts of cannabis use, in particular for occasional and moderate consumption.

Evidence-informed public education will be imperative for implementing an effective health-promoting regulatory framework for cannabis. There is an opportunity to promote a culture of moderation and harm reduction for cannabis that may extend to other substance use, especially among young people. The Government of Canada has stated its plan to pass Bill C-45 by July 1, 2018. However, in the meantime, Canadians continue to be arrested for possession of cannabis. Criminalization of cannabis use and possession impacts social determinants of health such as access to employment and housing. Given that cannabis possession will soon be made lawful in Canada, I urge you to immediately decriminalize the possession of non-medical cannabis for personal use.

In closing, I would like to reaffirm that Toronto Public Health supports the stated intent of Bill C-45 and recommends strengthening the health promoting requirements in the bill. I appreciate the complexity of building a regulatory framework for non-medical cannabis. Given that we're still learning about the impacts of cannabis use, the legal framework for cannabis must allow for strengthening health promoting policies while curtailing the influence of profit-driven policies. I look forward to ongoing consultations with the Government of Canada on the evolving policy landscape for this important public health issue.

Thank you for your attention.

[François Gagnon]

I do not want to repeat everything that my colleague said, and the INSPQ does not have the mandate to recommend anything other than what is already in its brief on Bill C-45. To elaborate somewhat, I would recommend including in the bill provisions to ensure there is absolutely no for-profit distribution system in Canada, but that would go well beyond the INSPQ's scope.

Nonetheless, that is essentially what we told Quebec officials when we recommended that they do everything in their power to prevent a for-profit model that would determine future regulatory options. The history of tobacco and alcohol is a history of commercialization. So the more that is done to limit commercialization, if not prevent it completely, the better it might be for public health.

[Maude Chapados]

Yes, that touches on what your colleague and I were talking about earlier. Product recognition requires that the name and brand be indicated, and so forth, whereas stimulation seeks to make a product attractive. There is a difference between the two. That is not addressed in Bill C-45. Stimulating demand and creating new client groups must be avoided. That is why, from a public health perspective, neutral packaging is one of the options preferred in the literature, for both tobacco and cannabis.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

For sure.

My last question has to do with the definition of youth in Bill C-45. Youth are defined as people aged 12 to 17. Then there are a number of provisions, but children under the age of 12 are not included. Where we talk about a trafficking offence to people 12 to 17, they are covered as young people. But there's nothing in there for people 11 and younger.

One amendment I was considering was about defining youth as persons under the age of 18. I'm looking to anyone here for their comments.

[Maude Chapados, Scientific Advisor, Institut national de santé publique du Québec]

Thank you.

Hello.

Beyond setting a minimum age, preventing cannabis use among young people depends in large part, as my colleague said, on establishing a strict legal framework for this product, which we consider to be no ordinary commodity, as certain public health stakeholders would say.

The creation of environments where the use of psychoactive substances is not stimulated or normalized is one of the best approaches to prevention. The measures taken by the provinces and territories with regard to authorized sale and consumption sites will be decisive in creating these environments. Certain measures in Bill C-45, however, and its subsequent regulations, will also be very important for the commercialization of cannabis, in particular among more vulnerable populations such as young people, be they under or over the age of majority.

The INSPQ would therefore like to take this opportunity today to repeat certain analyses that it presented in its brief submitted in August in order to ensure a better framework for marketing practices.

Research on commercial practices in the tobacco and alcohol industries shows to what extent sophisticated marketing strategies can affect consumption and the associated health problems. Research also shows that young people are particularly easy to influence. That is why the INSPQ is calling for an immediate ban on all forms of advertising and brand promotion, which raises four specific concerns related to youth and the bill under consideration.

First, packaging that is neutral and that provides information to allow for an informed decision on the nature of the product should be immediately required. Given that packaging is itself a tool for promoting the substance, the prohibition in clause 26 on packaging that could be appealing to young persons is neither clear nor sufficiently strong. The consultation report on plain packaging for tobacco products that was published in January 2017 should certainly be informative in this regard.

Second, promotional items should not be tolerated. Hats, socks, T-shirts and cups with hemp leaves or brands of medical cannabis on them are already popular, especially among young people, and help normalize cannabis. The display of a brand on “other things”, as provided in clause 17(6) of the bill, opens the door to branded derivative products. Once again, the prohibition intended to ensure that “other things” are not associated with or appealing to youth remains vague, and this brand promotion practice should be banned.

Third, clause 17(2) allows brand promotion in areas where minors are not permitted, which raises the same problem as packaging and derivative products. First, we know that minors often frequent such places. Young adults aged 18 to 25 are the group with the highest percentage of users. Moreover, we wonder whether the legal age should be raised. The fact that this group of young people can be exposed to advertising in bars, for instance, is inconsistent with a public health approach. This kind of promotion can not only encourage the use of cannabis, but also insidiously incite customers to consume cannabis and alcohol at the same time, which is a very high-risk behaviour, as you will agree, particularly as regards transportation safety.

Fourth, any effective strategy to regulate brand promotion and advertising should ideally include the Internet. Bill C-45 prohibits the publication and broadcast of advertising in the press and on radio and television, but is silent on measures to regulate this on the Internet. Yet it is mainly on digital platforms that youth and industry are already active, and this reality warrants particular attention in future regulations.

In short, there is reason to consider setting the minimum age above the age of majority. To the extent that the age of majority is a determinant of the age of initiation, this raises consistency issues as regards alcohol and tobacco, substances that are equally or more toxic than cannabis. Setting a minimum age above 18 for cannabis should therefore be part of a broader discussion of psychoactive substances and, indeed, of the age of majority.

In the meantime, the INSPQ maintains that certain provisions of Bill C-45 and its subsequent regulations can be amended or clarified in order to reduce the commercial promotion of cannabis to young people.

We hope that the considerations presented today will be helpful in this regard.

Thank you.

[François Gagnon]

Mr. Chair, thank you for inviting us to present the work of the Institut national de santé publique du Québec, the INSPQ, on the legalization of cannabis. At the institute, we are always interested in sharing our expertise with our colleagues across Canada, something we did last winter with a presentation to the FPT program on the legalization of cannabis. We also hosted webinars at pan-Canadian hearings and a conference on the legalization of cannabis at the Canadian Public Health Association in Halifax last summer. We will continue to present our work today, and we hope that you will benefit from it.

The INSPQ is a parapublic body created by the Government of Quebec. It is a scientific expertise and reference centre with a mission to support Quebec's minister of health and social services, regional public health authorities and institutions in carrying out their public health responsibilities. It is in this capacity that we have presented work for many years on alcohol and tobacco, and now on cannabis. All have a rather important point in common, and we will come back to that in our presentation.

The marketing of psychoactive substances is an important part of the equation to reduce harm and prevent their use. We have been interested in alcohol for a long time in terms of its commercialization, and essentially in the history of public health with respect to tobacco and the tobacco industry. This is a public health problem that we have been trying to contain for 70 years. We have decided that our comments today on Bill C-45 will deal with these commercial issues. For my part, I will strictly present our position on the minimum age for access to cannabis, which is part of the strategy to contain marketing, and Maude Chapados will address other issues later.

INSPQ's position on the age of access to cannabis reflects a recommendation we made to the Quebec authorities, which is to set it at 18 years of age, so that it is consistent with the legal age for alcohol and tobacco in Quebec. In the next few minutes, I will try to explain the reasons for our position.

First, according to the scientific literature, we know that raising the age of access to 21 years could significantly delay the age of initiation to cannabis. It is a disadvantage for public health to have a slightly lower age of access. On the other hand, there are many advantages to keeping this age of access lower. If we assume that legalization can have beneficial effects, it would be nice to also have it benefit people aged 18 to 21 if our intent was to take a position for access at 21 years.

If you haven't followed our work, I would point out that the institute recommended that the Quebec authorities set up a non-profit distribution system. Whether it is run by the public or private sector, we have stressed that it be non-profit. Whether it is run by the government or by non-profit organizations, we want the primary mission of the system not to be to make a profit, but to prevent and reduce harm. That is the direction we've taken. So there may be disadvantages in raising the age of access to cannabis.

Assuming that our distribution system fulfills its mission of preventing and reducing harm, 18 to 21 year olds should benefit in at least two ways. The first is the prevention of use and the reduction of harm. It would have to apply to the 18 to 21 age group if we are thinking of eliminating this category of the bill.

In terms of harm reduction, we have done a lot of work on substance quality assurance, for example. We want the quality of the substances to be controlled so that they are also safe for 18 to 21 year olds. By raising the legal age of access to cannabis, we believe that this would, at least in part, eliminate access to a quality-controlled substance for this age group, which does not seem to be so appropriate.

If you understand this correctly, the age of access to cannabis is an important issue, but it is only part of a set of concerns we have at the institute about psychoactive substances, and on their marketing in particular.

I have spoken to you about alcohol and tobacco, but the reason this situation is of such great concern is the same as in the case of cannabis. In Colorado, there was intense commercialization and the impact on consumption habits could be observed, overall and by age group. That concerns us directly today. Among youth aged 12 to 17, from 2009—when cannabis was first commercialized in Colorado—to 2014, declared usage in the past thirty days rose from 10% to 12.5%. Among young people aged 18 to 25, usage rose from 26% to 31%. In other words, in the two age groups that we are specifically interested in today, declared usage in Colorado rose by 25% and 20% respectively. Yesterday, I believe, you heard from stakeholders from Colorado and Washington. In those states, there has been an impact on emergency admissions and traffic accidents involving persons whose THC level was tested. The repercussions on the health system are immediately evident.

Before concluding, I would like to point out that it is not simply a matter of age. The system established in Colorado led to intense commercialization. Based on our analysis, it is this emphasis on the commercialization, marketing and advertising of cannabis that led to the results observed.

I will now give the floor to my colleague Ms. Maude Chapados, who will speak to other aspects of Bill C-45 which, in our opinion, warrant examination.

[Ian Culbert]

The risk of delay is added confusion amongst the population. We've signalled that we are moving in this direction. There's always that perception of a need for more time. The foundational work in Bill C-45 is on the right track. The provinces and territories have known since October 2015 that this was coming, and they have been working towards this. Will it be perfect on July 1, 2018? No, but the provinces will be on the right track.

The harm associated with the potential delay is that you're keeping all Canadians under a criminalized model that has serious negative consequences for all.

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

You are obviously concerned about Bill C-45 in your comments. One of your recommendations was that the federal government should ensure that all provinces receive payments or sufficient funding to deal with the health issues that will arise from the legalization of marijuana.

Do you see an increase in demand for your service after this legislation is in place?

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Thank you for that.

You also wrote about public education campaigns and that this has to be part of it. Again, we agree that Bill C-45 has to include robust public education, particularly directed towards our young people.

We've seen public education campaigns in the past that were, to say it charitably, a little clumsy. I think we can all remember laughing at the ad with the fried egg in the pan, "This is your brain on drugs". We know that just did not resonate with anybody as an effective deterrent. What would be the most effective way of transmitting to young people that this is something they shouldn't be doing?

[Peter A. Howlett, President, Portage]

Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the committee, Portage, of which I'm the president, has been in existence for nearly 50 years, treating adolescents, adults, pregnant addicts, mothers with small children, indigenous communities, and mentally ill drug dependents, and has provided in-prison programming and programming in some 15 other countries. Portage is here today not to debate the merits of legalizing marijuana but rather to register our concerns about the collateral impact of Bill C-45 on youth in general, and substance-abusing youth in particular. We will offer some recommendations on how these risks might be mitigated.

This past April, Health Canada released a paper that reported that marijuana is an addictive substance with significant possible impacts on both mind and body of the users, and that continued frequent and heavy use is likely to cause physical dependency and addiction. Anthony reported that, using DSM-IV criteria, between 8% and 10% of adult users, and 16% of adolescent users, fit the cannabis dependency criteria. As a further risk factor, future lung cancer in heavy cannabis users of military conscription age in the United States is discussed by Callaghan, Allebeck, and Sidorchuk in their 2013 work. The American College of Pediatricians, in an article entitled “Marijuana Use: Detrimental to Youth”, of April 2017, reports a number of studies on potential causal relationships between heavy marijuana use and a number of non-infectious illnesses such as long-term impacts on the cardiopulmonary system.

Aside from these risks caused by heavy marijuana use, there are also a number of studies described by the American College of Pediatricians showing associations between chronic marijuana use and mental illness. The findings suggest that people who are dependent on marijuana frequently have comorbid mental disorders, including schizophrenia. Some of the studies cited found nearly a 50% increase of psychosis among cannabis users versus non-users. The authors are describing the consequence of heavy, persistent use, but Portage wishes to remind the committee that 16% of young users can be described as such. It is the protection of this significant, highly vulnerable minority that is the focus of Portage's presentation today.

While the proportion of dependent, heavy users to casual users might remain the same, the size of these groups is expected to grow dramatically as a consequence of legalization. In examining some of the evidence since 2007, there has been an increase in marijuana use among young people in the United States attributed to limited legalization and the diminishing perception of drug risks. As of 2014, the number of users aged 12 and up has increased from 14.5 million to 18.9 million. In the United States, 7.3% of all admissions to publicly funded drug treatment facilities were of persons aged 12 to 17. The prevalence of usage among young people is therefore noteworthy.

A study evaluating the impact of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado found, in the area of traffic offences, there was a 45% increase in impaired driving between 2013 and 2014, and a 32% increase in marijuana-related motor vehicle deaths. By 2013, marijuana use in Colorado was 55% above the national average among teens and young adults, and 86% higher for the age group 25 and over.

The American College of Pediatricians maintains that marijuana legalization will result in increased adolescent usage, addiction, and associated risks for them. Age-specific data on Colorado cannabis use compared data from two years before to two years after legalization for the age groups 12 to 17, 18 to 25, and over 26. The increases were 17% to 63% higher, while national averages for the same group remained the same or lower. Callaghan, in 2016, cited calculations of the approximate number of cannabis users in Ontario population groups below and above age 25 for 2013 and found that adolescents, young adults, are disproportionately represented among cannabis users.

Research suggests that existing alcohol and tobacco control measures are not likely to prove to be good models for controlling youth access to cannabis after legalization. Despite existing regulations banning distribution or sale to minors, alcohol continues to be widely used by Ontario students at all levels.

The evidence for driving under the influence for those 19 and under is very disconcerting. Up to 18% of those involved in fatal accidents between 2000 and 2007 tested positive for alcohol, drugs, or both. The numbers for those reporting driving under the influence of alcohol or cannabis is similarly high, and those reporting to be passengers in a car driven by someone under the influence are even higher.

As mentioned earlier, the findings of the Colorado data for cannabis-related driver fatalities after the broad commercialization of medical marijuana underlie the concern. In Colorado, experience in restricting access to medical marijuana failed. Of the 12- to 17-year-olds who enter drug treatment programs, 70% to 72% do so primarily for marijuana addiction. Among those, 74% reported using someone else's medical marijuana.

So here we are, on the threshold of legalization, discussing permissible age and denying access through regulation to minors. Something's not right with this picture.

First and foremost, there is the messaging. Marijuana is not a harmless substance. Adolescents are heavily involved with its consumption, and age restriction and control of legal distribution is not likely not to deter them or their suppliers from continuing their practices.

Hopfer, 2014, suggests that in the United States the Surgeon General's 1964 report declaring smoking as harmful may have been the most important substance abuse intervention. It resulted, with the aid of public health stakeholders, in triggering a shift in public perception of smoking followed by a steady decline in smoking. Portage fears that the current message surrounding recreational use, and Bill C-45 in general, will produce the reverse phenomena. Has telling adolescents “wait until you're old enough” ever dissuaded the majority of them from doing anything?

I must raise the question of who benefits. There is an assumption that legalization will create a windfall of revenue for the public purse like that from alcohol, which will support an increase of expensive public health education and programming. A finding by Rehm et al. in 2007 suggests the inverse may prove to be true. Their findings suggest that social and economic costs generated by alcohol consumption may possibly be greater than the revenue derived from the production and sale of alcohol. Is there any reason to believe that this will not also be the case for legal cannabis sold through government monopolies?

Portage fails to understand how policing costs would diminish. Under legalization, importation, production, and trafficking would continue to remain criminal offences and would still result in policing and court costs. The same principle applies in other areas. Shifting the debate to age of access and mode of distribution may have clouded the challenges facing our society and our young once the act is implemented. We need to have serious thinking devoted to protecting the at-risk young people, who will continue to become dependent, perhaps in greater numbers.

In terms of recommendations, because we are dealing with a high-risk situation with important consequences for a significant number of vulnerable young Canadians, we cannot proceed with a trial-and-error approach. We have to get it right the first time.

The federal government, as the drafter and promoter of Bill C-45, must ensure that all the provinces have sufficient resources both financially and infrastructure-wise to adequately respond to the collateral physical and psychological health problems the bill is likely to create. The government must legislate strict minimum standards that apply in all jurisdictions and not abdicate its responsibility under the cloak of provincial rights.

We recommend that references to recreational use be eliminated; that the messaging and dialogue be changed to alert parents, educators, and employers to the possible challenges that legalization may create; and that we anticipate and provide for the needs for increase of service for non-infectious diseases.

Distribution should be strictly regulated as to age and amount purchased and should be tracked through a centralized registry. The government should examine the European example of cannabis clubs requiring memberships, on-site consumption only, minimum age, etc., as a mode of ensuring that little of the legal marijuana makes it way to the streets.

The bill should rescind the right to purchase for convicted traffickers, people with substance abuse treatment histories, people with significant acute psychiatric diagnoses, or those found to be driving under the influence.

We should invest massively in prevention, education, and treatment resources to meet the augmented demands likely to arise as a consequence of the legalization of cannabis.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[Judith Renaud, Executive Director, Educators for Sensible Drug Policy]

Thank you for the invitation to speak to the House of Commons about this very important act, the issue of youth use, the age for legal possession, and the impact on our young Canadians.

Cannabis prohibition has been an abject failure. As the executive director of EFSDP, I want to see educational policy and reform come from a place of progressive change, where students, parents, teachers, health care professionals, and mental health providers work together to provide a quality of schooling that reflects a place where what is learned is lived and is based on solid scientific evidence, and where truth matters.

More and more, for a variety of reasons, it has become society's role to educate, and to provide support for parents and children. Educators have a responsibility to be esteem-builders. Bill C-45 has some good intentions, but the cannabis act will not prevent youth from using cannabis. It should not subject them to further harms from the law itself.

Educators understand that despite its increasing ubiquity, research suggests that young people's attitudes towards cannabis are ambiguous. Many have conflicting positions and negative attitudes towards its use. This is not surprising considering the complexity of the substance. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, two substances almost exclusively limited in purpose to recreational use, cannabis can be used both recreationally and medically, although the line between the two is blurred.

To increase the understanding about the issues cannabis can pose to the health and well-being of young people, drug reform educators believe we should be educating them not only about the substance's possible negative effects, but also its positive ones. This can be achieved using evidence-based, unbiased, and holistic information, where truth matters.

The ubiquity of cannabis is a major health issue. Youth need to gain factual knowledge about cannabis so that they are able to make informed decisions about cannabis and its use in order to mitigate possible harm. We agree with the task force that 18 is an appropriate age for legal use. However, some EFSDP members agree with the 2002 Senate report that 16 is also appropriate.

As a society, we need to remove many misconceptions that are perpetuated by eight decades of prohibition. Educators must find common ground. As some people continue to push the prohibitionist agenda, educators are becoming more aware that teens are more at risk from alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and opioids. Neuroscientist Marc Lewis wrote a book called Memoirs of an Addicted Brain. He discusses in detail how cannabinoids are natural brain chemicals. I quote:

The cannabinoid receptor system matures most rapidly, not during childhood, not during adulthood, but during adolescence. So it wouldn't be surprising if cannabinoid activity is meant to be functional during adolescence, more functional than any other period of the life span. As far as evolution is concerned, adolescents might well benefit from following their own grandiose thoughts, goals, and plans. By doing so, and by ignoring the weight of evidence - on sheer inertia - piled up against them, they would greatly amplify their tendency to explore, to try things, to imbue their plans with more confidence.... The evolutionary goals of adolescents are to become independent, to make new connections, and to find new territory, new social systems, and most of all, new mates. The distortions of adolescent thinking might be precisely posed to facilitate these goals.

Adolescents ignore most of what parents think, most of conventional wisdom, and are spellbound by their own ideas. They follow chains of logic that nobody else finds logical, and voice excessive allegiance to their own predictions about how things will turn out. Even when they're not stoned, adolescents live in a world of ideation of their own making and follow trains of thought to extreme conclusions, despite overwhelming evidence that they're just plain wrong.

In 2001, I was offered a position as a first nation administrator in northern British Columbia. Not only was this experience life altering, but it was one that made me realize how ordinary Canadian educators and citizens have no idea what misfortunes, tragedies, and adversities many indigenous young people experience by the time they reach adolescence, how many deaths, what abuse they endure, and what despair they feel. I met Dr. Maté, a well-known drug addiction expert and author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and Hold On to Your Kids.

He said, about the despair first nation youth feel, the self-loathing plagues them, the barriers to a life of freedom and meaning they have to face, that it is the educator who must always remember this: Don’t ask why the drug, ask why the pain.

At the core of unresolved traumas passed from one generation to the next, along with social conditions that induce further hopelessness, I witnessed untold, multi-generational traumas in several aboriginal communities. Native history resonates in aboriginal youth with their brilliant art, their dances, their music, and their wisdom. Maté said when educators see their first nation peers, they witness “their humanity, grandeur, unspeakable suffering and strength”.

Cannabis law enforcement has been shown to be racially biased. The “from school to prison pipeline” is real. Jail cells cannot be the new classroom. Our aboriginal youth are suffering. We must stop targeting marginalized people of colour, and we must learn to understand trauma and its multiple impacts on human mentality and behaviour. I agree with Dr. Maté that “the best-meaning people can unwittingly re-traumatize those who can least bear the pain and loss”.

EFSDP's goal is to promote an alternative to failed, punitive drug policies. As hard as we try, we will never convince 100% of youth to say no 100% of the time. If we can clear up the underlying problems, there will be less incentive for young people to use drugs as a way of coping with the stresses they face.

Thank you, and I welcome your questions.

[Dr. Christina Grant, Member of the Adolescent Health Committee, Canadian Paediatric Society]

Dear members of the Standing Committee on Health, I'm an adolescent medicine specialist and associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster University. Thank you for the invitation to speak as a representative of the Canadian Paediatric Society on Bill C-45, specifically regarding the age of legal possession and the impact on young Canadians of the legalization of cannabis in Canada.

I have submitted a summary of the CPS statement on cannabis and Canada's children and youth for your reading. My goal today is to ensure that you have up-to-date scientific information regarding the impact of cannabis use on young Canadians, including young toddlers, and to discuss our society's stance regarding the age of legal possession.

First, there can be no doubt regarding the scientific literature that cannabis use prior to the mid-20s is associated with structural, functional, and harmful effects on the developing brain, as has been borne out in many peer-reviewed studies. There are rigorous studies demonstrating a relationship between regular cannabis use in youth and the increased risk of approximately 40% of developing a psychotic episode. We know that early use, higher doses, and frequent use all contribute to this risk, in addition to other predisposing factors for developing a psychotic illness, such as family history.

There are also studies demonstrating a relationship between regular cannabis use and clinical depression, though results are not as robust as for the psychosis relationship. There are studies indicating that youth with certain anxiety disorders are at increased risk for developing problematic cannabis use that can inevitably interfere with their everyday lives.

Strikingly, one in six adolescents who experiment with cannabis goes on to develop cannabis-use disorder, a psychiatric illness similar to alcoholism, where the drug use interferes with multiple areas of functioning. This can include academics, social and family relationships, and extracurricular activities, all areas that require rich development during the teen years in order to leave them well equipped for life.

For all these reasons, there is no safe age for experimentation with cannabis, and we recommend that young people not consume it. However, adolescence is a time of experimentation. We know that Canadian youth are experimenting with cannabis at the highest rate compared with other countries around the world. The proposed legal cannabis industry in Canada has raised a dilemma regarding the most appropriate age for its legal use, which should minimize harm to children and youth, our most vulnerable population.

On the one hand, prohibiting cannabis until the mid-20s would protect adolescents during a period of critical brain development. On the other, adolescents and young adults are already experimenting frequently with marijuana. Aligning the legal age for cannabis use with that of other legally controlled substances, notably alcohol and tobacco, would help ensure that youth who have attained age of majority have access to a regulated product with a known potency. Also, they would be less liable to engage in high-risk, illegal activities to access cannabis.

Of emerging concern in the United States and in Europe is the number of accidental ingestions of edibles by the toddler age group. Perhaps we all know that edibles are marijuana-infused food products that come in various formats, including cookies and candies. These are highly attractive to young children and often indistinguishable from regular candies, chocolate bars, or baked goods. In Colorado, rates of unintentional ingestion in children less than nine rose by 34% after the legalization of cannabis. More than a third of those cases required hospitalization in a pediatric critical care unit because of overdose symptoms. Most commonly, the toddlers could not breath on their own.

A study from France published this month demonstrated a threefold increase in young children, mostly toddlers, requiring pediatric emergency care presenting with coma and seizures secondary to accidental cannabis ingestion.

Because of the aforementioned concerns, I would urge your committee to consider the following CPS recommendations so that as a society we are able to protect those who are most vulnerable.

First, enact and rigorously enforce regulations on the cannabis industry to limit the availability and marketing of cannabis to minors. These regulations must prohibit dispensaries from being located close to elementary, middle, and high schools, licensed child care centres, community centres, residential neighbourhoods, and youth facilities. Mandate strict labelling standards for all cannabis products, including a complete and accurate list of ingredients and an exact measure of cannabis concentration. Mandate package warnings for all cannabis products, including known and potential harmful effects of exposure, similar to cigarettes, including childproof packaging. Mandate and enforce a ban on the marketing of cannabis-related products using strategies or venues that attract children and youth, such as edibles.

Second, adequately fund public education campaigns to reinforce that cannabis is not safe for children and youth by raising awareness of the harms associated with cannabis use and dependence. These campaigns should be developed in collaboration with youth leaders and should include young opinion leaders.

Finally, send a strong message to the public that cannabis has neurodevelopmental risks by considering limiting the concentrations of THC in cannabis that 18- to 25-year-olds can purchase legally.

Thank you.

[Ian Culbert, Executive Director, Canadian Public Health Association]

Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for the invitation to present to you today.

I will preface my comments this morning by noting that, throughout my remarks, my references to cannabis use relate to recreational use, not the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

On behalf of the Canadian Public Health Association, I am pleased that the Government of Canada has committed itself to a public health approach to the legalization and regulation of cannabis. We are further pleased that Bill C-45 does in fact embody such an approach.

Different from the publicly funded health care system, public health is the organized efforts of society to keep people healthy and to prevent injury, illness, and premature death. As such, a public health approach is based on the principles of social justice. It pays attention to human rights and equity. It is based on the evidence, and it addresses the underlying determinants of health. A public health approach is organized, comprehensive, multisectoral, and it emphasizes pragmatic initiatives.

As a colleague recently noted, in some ways public health is like that darling child who's always asking, “Why?” In the case of cannabis, we want to know why people use it, so that we can develop policies and interventions that meet their needs. The human relationship with cannabis ranges from abstinence to a spectrum of consumption. This spectrum ranges from beneficial to non-problematic, to potentially harmful use, to the development of use disorders. At the federal level, the legal and regulatory response to cannabis needs to be sufficiently broad to encompass the entire spectrum of consumption, while at the provincial and territorial levels, the response begins to narrow to meet the particular needs of each jurisdiction. Then at the regional or local levels, the response is honed to the specific needs of particular populations.

There has been considerable discussion and unfortunately a lack of consensus regarding the appropriate legal age for the possession of cannabis. The Canadian Public Health Association supports the provisions in Bill C-45 establishing the minimum legal age at 18 and allowing provinces and territories to set a higher age, as appropriate, in their jurisdictions. From a practical perspective, it is important and appropriate for provinces and territories to establish a legal age for cannabis consumption that matches the legal age for alcohol consumption. In that way, confusion should be reduced and education efforts can be better coordinated.

While we would prefer that no Canadian use cannabis or any other psychoactive substance, a public health approach recognizes that cannabis will be consumed for a number of different reasons, regardless of efforts to discourage it. You are already familiar with the statistics: 12% of the general population, 21% of youth aged 15 to 19, and 30% of young adults aged 20 to 24 reported in a 2015 survey that they consumed cannabis in the previous year. Since more than one in five youth aged 15 to 19 are consuming cannabis now and we have no reason to believe that rate will change, the responsible policy option is to create a legal and regulated market for cannabis that is accessible to adults 18 years of age and older.

Bill C-45 will establish a supply of cannabis of known potency and quality. Currently, anyone consuming cannabis is playing a game of Russian roulette, never knowing the product's quality before consuming it, or if it has been laced with other, more powerful psychoactive substances. From a public health perspective, the Canadian Public Health Association is encouraging provincial and territorial governments to limit the sale of cannabis to government-controlled entities to ensure that the focus remains on harm reduction, not profit.

The prohibition model currently in place in Canada has severely hampered health promotion and harm reduction efforts. The only message we had at our disposal was, “Just say no”, and clearly that has failed. Beyond simple health education, health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health. It is our view that legal cannabis sales must therefore be preceded by comprehensive, non-judgmental, non-stigmatizing health promotion campaigns across Canada that have a clear and consistent message. These campaigns must be supported on an ongoing basis and should be complemented by in-person health promotion and harm reduction messaging at the point of sale. We need to normalize the conversation about cannabis, not its consumption.

There are concerns that the legalization will result in significant increases in cannabis use, especially among young people. While the Canadian experience may be different, two recent reports from Washington state both indicate that youth cannabis consumption has remained stable since legalization in that jurisdiction. One of these reports, however, indicates an increase in older adults' cannabis use, while another indicates an increase in the number of people who consume cannabis daily or near daily.

These early reports out of Washington remind us that we need to pay attention to the entire population, with a particular focus on why certain individuals go on to potentially problematic use.

Concerns have also been raised about the impact cannabis consumption has on the developing brain. While the studies quoted are important pieces of the research puzzle, they focus on young people who are daily and heavy cannabis users. I think we can all agree that if a child is consuming a large amount of cannabis on a daily basis, there is a cause for concern. If a child were drinking alcohol heavily on a daily basis, there would be a similar cause for concern. Once again, from a public health perspective we want to know why that child is consuming heavily and daily; then we can focus our interventions accordingly.

At the moment, we lack robust data on the health impacts of casual use of cannabis and we hope that legalization will allow research on that issue to take place. Having understood that people are going to continue consuming cannabis for various reasons and in various amounts, it is crucial that our policies and interventions focus on harm reduction efforts. Harm reduction can take many different forms, including ensuring a product of known potency and quality; effective education and health promotion activities; ensuring that consumers and health and social service providers know about safer consumption methods; and adopting and promoting the lower-risk cannabis use guidelines.

I understand that you have a panel dedicated to that subject later today, so I won't go into these guidelines in detail but I will say that they are an important tool that should be adopted in all jurisdictions.

The Canadian Public Health Association does have one recommendation for an amendment to Bill C-45 that I believe one of your witnesses mentioned yesterday. As it currently stands, subclause 10(5) of the bill will result in the crime of possession for the purpose of selling becoming an indictable offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison for those convicted, including young people between the ages of 12 and 18. Clause 8 concerning possession and clause 9 concerning distribution provide similar sentencing options for people over 18 years of age, but permit referral to sentencing under the Youth Criminal Justice Act for those between 12 and 18.

The Canadian Public Health Association's viewpoint is that an option for sentencing under the Youth Criminal Justice Act for young people should also exist under subclause 10(5). In many cases these offences are related to possession for sale by young people to their peers, and the stigma established by such a conviction may cause irreparable harm to their futures, outweighing the actual offence. Care should be taken to apply the proposed rules concerning possession for the purpose of sale to reflect the severity of the crime.

You have also heard calls that we are not ready for legalization. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of time, as Canadians are already consuming cannabis at record levels. The individual and societal harms associated with cannabis use are already being felt every day. The proposed legislation and eventual regulation is our best attempt to minimize those harms and protect the well-being of all Canadians. Our first efforts may not be perfect, but perfection is not required as we can modify our approaches as we learn from our experiences. At the end of the day, we all want to do the right thing for the broad range of Canadians who already consume or may choose to consume cannabis for a variety of different reasons.

The Canadian Public Health Association believes that Bill C-45 and provincial responses such as Ontario's are steps in the right direction. Key lessons learned from jurisdictions that have travelled this road before us include the following: regulators must have the flexibility to adapt to changing conditions in the marketplace; upfront investments in education and health promotion are essential; law enforcement and public health need to work together; and the interests of the private sector cannabis industry are rarely aligned with the interests of public health.

[Scott Bernstein, Senior Policy Analyst, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition]

Thank you.

Good morning, honourable members. Thank you for the opportunity to make comments on Bill C-45 this morning on this important panel.

I'm representing the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition or CDPC, a non-governmental organization comprised of over 70 organizations and 3,000 individuals working to support the development of a drug policy in Canada that is based in science, guided by public health principles, and respectful of human rights.

CDPC supports the passing of Bill C-45 and the legal regulation of non-medical cannabis as a way to minimize the social and individual costs of prohibition while ensuring the cannabis policy supports public health and human rights to the fullest extent possible.

Legalizing and regulating cannabis will ensure there is adequate oversight of the complete market of non-medical cannabis including control over dose, quality, potency, marketing, and access. From decades of prohibitionist drug policy in Canada, evidence clearly and unequivocally demonstrates that criminalizing people for possessing and using drugs leads to great social and individual harms. As such, CDPC supports the legal regulation of all drugs within Canada as a route to retaking control of a dangerous, unregulated market for drugs that supports criminal organizations and puts countless Canadians at risk of criminal sanction.

We believe this is the path to minimizing infectious disease such as hepatitis C and HIV, reducing overdose and social stigma, and promoting public health and safety objectives. Similarly, we believe that evidence strongly supports decriminalizing all drugs and further improved public health and public safety.

I would like to make comments this morning on recommendations that CDPC has put forward to this committee in our submitted brief.

First, I'll address the minimum age of access. The cannabis act establishes a federal minimum age of 18 years to access cannabis with provinces having the ability to raise the minimum age as Ontario has done to align with its alcohol age. CDPC supports maintaining the federal minimum age of 18 years in the legislation.

Despite the existing system of cannabis prohibition that has been in place in Canada for decades, there remains a consistent one in three people in the 16 to 25 age range who are active users. In a UN study it was shown that youth cannabis use was lower in countries with more liberal drug policies than in Canada, demonstrating that strict enforcement policies are not a deterrent for young people.

It is unrealistic to conclude that all youth will completely abstain from consuming cannabis regardless of set age limits and sanctions against consumption. Having a minimum age that's too high will maintain the illegal market and put numerous young Canadians at greater risk than the risk to them of consuming cannabis. That approach should be rejected in favour of a public health approach that looks at the entire spectrum of risk to young people from not only the substance itself but the policies as well. Protecting youth must consider the harms to youth of engaging with illegal markets as well as the harms of consuming cannabis, a policy balance that supports a lower minimum age of access.

Second, regarding criminal penalties in youth, the cannabis act prohibits possession of dried cannabis of more than five grams by a young person, creating either an indictable or summary conviction offence, and if convicted, a sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Notably, the Province of Ontario has chosen to close even the small gap and create provincial crimes for a young person carrying any amount of cannabis.

Seeming to recognize the harms of a criminal record, the cannabis act provides in some circumstances allowances for a peace officer to issue ticketable offences to both adults and organizations. Such allowances, though, are not available to young people.

It is now well documented that a criminal record contributes to considerable social harms from limiting international travel, diminishing career and volunteer opportunities, exacerbating poverty, and leading to poorer health outcomes, creating stigma, and consuming scarce public resources.

As mentioned, evidence also supports the fact that the potential for criminal sanction is not a deterrent for adolescent use of cannabis. Instead, as was recommended by the task force, achieving the public health and safety goals of the cannabis act with respect to youth should be addressed through education and soft approaches to discourage use as opposed to criminal punishment.

Overwhelmingly, respondents to the task force took the view that the criminalization of youth should be avoided, and that criminal sanctions should be focused on adults who provide cannabis to youth, not on the youths themselves. One such approach might be found in the state of California, where the regulatory scheme provides that young people found possessing cannabis will receive non-criminal infractions, and must attend mandatory education or counselling and perform community service. CDPC recommends that youth not be subject to criminal penalties at all, and that the cannabis act be amended to substitute similar soft approaches to youth drug use, such as counselling and community service. Removing these sanctions of criminality will increase public health and safety, particularly with respect to youth, by decreasing the harm and stigma of criminalization, while still discouraging unlawful use through a balanced and realistic approach.

Additionally, social sharing, which is a common practice among young people, is something the task force recommended be allowed, but it has also been prohibited by the cannabis act through the criminalization of any form of distribution to a young person, with a draconian penalty of up to 14 years in prison. This would penalize an 18-year-old sharing cannabis with a 17-year-old friend, or a parent sharing with his or her son or daughter.

In the case of alcohol, there are clear exemptions to criminalization for adults sharing with their minor children in a private home, and all provinces regard social sharing of alcohol with far less punitive penalties than in the cannabis act. CDPC recommends that social sharing with a young person not be criminalized but rather treated in a similar manner to youth use, with counselling and community service. CDPC further recommends that adults be permitted to provide cannabis to their own minor children in a private residence, similar to alcohol.

My final point concerns social justice. Underlying the legal regulation of cannabis is the notion that our historical policies of criminalizing cannabis have led to unacceptable negative outcomes in Canadian society, including supporting a thriving illegal market for cannabis nationwide, and capturing hundreds of thousands in the criminal justice system for cannabis offences. Criminal law, though, is rarely applied equally, and cannabis prohibition has had a greater negative impact on marginalized communities, people of colour, youth, and indigenous persons. Legislation crafted to repair past policies should also aim to repair the damage done to those punished under an unjust system, including creating opportunities within the new economy and clearing past criminal records.

CDPC recommends two changes to the act to better serve the social justice aims of the legislation. First, prior drug convictions should not be the sole reason for denying a licence to participate in the cannabis economy. Paragraph 62(7)(c) allows the minister to refuse to issue, renew, or amend a federal licence or permit required for participation in the cannabis industry if the applicant has contravened the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, or committed other drug-related offenses in the past 10 years. This would of course include any drug conviction for activities that would now be legitimate under the new regime. There is no logical reason for creating a specific ground related to drug offences in this provision, compared to any number of past offences that might make a person ineligible for a licence, such as theft or fraud. A preferred approach would be one similar to California's, where prior convictions for non-violent drug offences are actually prohibited from being the sole reason for denial of a licence.

Second, there should be clear mechanisms for those convicted of cannabis-related drug offences in the past to apply for the suspension of convictions on their criminal record, or for cases where sentences are still being served, of having these cases dismissed or re-evaluated under the new legislation. CDPC recommends amendments to the cannabis act that allow for the reconsideration of ongoing sentences and record suspensions for prior convictions.

The cannabis act is a remarkable piece of legislation that forges new policy standards regulating previously illegal substances.

It is important that these new standards be centred on evidence, public health, and the well-being of Canadians young and old. Thank you.