Thank you.
That did constitute a large part of the preliminary remarks that I read, and I would simply repeat that, acutely, there is temporary impairment of function, as there is with many drugs affecting the central nervous system. Alcohol, tranquilizers, and opiates all affect a variety of cognitive functions temporarily and reversibly.
However, what I'm concerned about is the effect on the developing brain, because the endocannabinoid system—that is the system that exists naturally in the nervous system and throughout the body, in which substances similar in actions to the plant cannabinoids are the actual transmitter substances that modify nerve function—during the in utero development of the fetus has been shown to increase the generation of nerve cells in their mobility to their final site but to impair their ability to establish connections with each other to set up the nerve circuits that are required for laying down memories, for learning skills, and for carrying out higher functions. That is the part that is at particular risk throughout the period of maturation of the brain, which continues at different rates up till the end of adolescence.
That's why I have stressed that people who begin use at a very early age—and there are, unfortunately, many who do—are exposing themselves to risks that are permanent in the sense that if they continue to use and inhibit the maturation process until the age when that would end anyway, then they can't recover what they have postponed. That's why concern about youth is particularly relevant when we are talking about cannabis.