Okay, thank you.
It's great that you have this alcohol background as well. I know this study is about the health risks and harms of marijuana, but you mentioned, and I think, Mr. Kalant, you also mentioned, that driving after using marijuana decreased reaction time. Then you also said that its joint use with alcohol was where you saw increased numbers of motor vehicle accidents. Speaking of alcohol and marijuana usage, I assume that's recreational usage. But we don't know; it could possibly be somebody who is using marijuana for medical purposes and then mixing it with alcohol.
As we know, when people use pharmaceutical medications, it clearly says “do not consume alcohol while taking this medication”, yet people do, which increases the adverse effects of both the toxicity of the medication they might be taking with the pharmaceutical drug and the impairment caused by the alcohol in their system.
I know that alcohol is bad for you. We know there have been some longitudinal studies on the cardiovascular benefits of red wine usage and limited, controlled portions throughout your day. My question is, why are we allowing for this substance to be used or abused? It could be both. We know that alcoholism is a disease sometimes—not a disease; it’s considered a disorder I think now. I don't remember the actual term.
Professor Kalant, you had mentioned that when you're doing research, it's important to do a thorough cost-benefit analysis. You had mentioned that with the medical marijuana use, the costs as well as the benefits are being assessed and weighed when a doctor or a medical professional prescribes it as a treatment option. We're not looking at the benefits today in this study. We're only looking at the costs. I know it's difficult to do a thorough analysis here.
Could you speak about how is it that we can actually be doing a proper, thorough study when we're not?