Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses, and again, what great witnesses we have.
It's unfortunate that the government really wants to cram everything into one week because they want to get this done.
For me, it's an eye-opener. With the American experience it seems it was the people moving up to look at these issues about decriminalization and small quantities, whereas in Canada this really came about from a poorly thought-out political promise that was made, and we're seeing that the federal government is trying to force a timeline down on the provinces and territories. We've heard from provinces that aren't happy and police forces that aren't happy with it, and what really bothers me is the narrative from the government saying we have to rush. There is no rush here.
Since they say the status quo isn't working, I'm going to read this into the record. “The World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Canada”—okay, it's an agency of Canada—“have released the results of the latest survey of nearly 30,000 children in 377 schools across Canada, first administered in 1990.” Now, these are 2014 numbers, but it says:
Cannabis use is now at its lowest level since 1990. About 23 per cent of boys and girls aged 15 and 16 report having tried the drug, which is down by half from its peaks in 2002, when 50 per cent of boys said they smoked, and...40 per cent of girls had tried [it].
This whole rush about it really makes me uncomfortable. We have such a short period of time to jam this in. We're not listening to the lessons that you gentlemen and you witnesses are bringing forward, and what really concerns us is our youth.
Mr. Sabet, I think you used the term “normalization” and referred to the worry about that. In this legislation, the bill would allow young persons—which is defined as between the ages of 12 and 17—to have up to five grams of marijuana, and from my understanding in talking to people, that can be 10 to 15 joints. I think that's enough for somebody for a day, but I want to ask you these questions.
Do you think it should be illegal for those under the legal age to possess marijuana? Do you think a 12-year-old or a 17-year-old possessing five grams at one time would likely share it or sell it to others, and what does this do to normalize marijuana?