Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Dr. Laurent Marcoux. I am pleased to be here today in my role as president of the Canadian Medical Association, the CMA. I am joined by Dr. Jeff Blackmer, vice-president of Medical Professionalism at the CMA.
As the national organization representing over 85,000 physicians and physicians-in-training, the CMA has long been concerned about the health risks of cannabis, especially when smoked. These include cardiovascular, pulmonary and mental illnesses, motor vehicle accidents, and addiction.
In legalizing cannabis for recreational purposes, the federal government needs to exercise caution. It must establish public health objectives and be accountable for them. It must focus on protecting Canadians and reducing harm.
The CMA is therefore recommending a broad public health approach, which would focus on preventing problematic drug use, ensuring access to treatment services for those who wish to stop using, and increasing the safety for those who are using through harm reduction.
The goal of this approach is to decrease the negative health, social and economic consequences of drug use for the individual, the community and society as a whole.
Children and youth are especially at risk of harm, given their brain's development. And they are among the highest users of cannabis in Canada.
To better protect this part of the population, we are recommending that the age of legalization be set at 21 years. The quantities and the potency of cannabis should also be more restricted to those under age 25.
Despite these increased risks, however, evidence shows that youth today do not believe cannabis has serious health effects. A comprehensive public health strategy for cannabis must therefore include education, similar to what has been done with tobacco.
Educational strategies should be implemented before, and no later than the enactment of any legislation in order to increase awareness of the harms and to conduct further research on its impact. The CMA urges the government to support the widespread dissemination of lower-risk cannabis use guidelines incorporating its messages into educational strategies.
Once legislation is in effect, cannabis will be available for those who wish to use it for health issues, either with or without medical authorization. We are therefore recommending only one regime for both medical and non-medical use. However, this regime will need to ensure access for those unable to acquire cannabis legally, for example, those below the minimum age.
If the government does decide to maintain two separate systems, we recommend that the legislation be reviewed within five years to assess, for example, the number of users in the medical system and the number of physicians authorizing medical cannabis use.
Cannabis use has significant health risks, and we continue to call for more research into its effects. Legalizing won't change the risk. The government's focus should therefore be first and foremost on protecting Canadians, especially the young, and reducing harms to health.
Thank you. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.