The time is up.
Mr. Davies.
Evidence of meeting #65 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cannabis.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #65 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cannabis.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
I'm going to pick up on the last question. The U.S. is a signatory to those three treaties.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Technically, all 50 states could move to legalize marijuana, and the federal government's position would be that they're in compliance.
5:10 p.m.
President, Smart Approaches to Marijuana
If past positions are any indication, possibly.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
No, it doesn't.
Ms. Weeks, there are a few questions I'd like to ask. You said, I think, that Washington state spends $7.5 million a year on education. Do I have that figure correct?
5:10 p.m.
Government Relations Director, Washington State Department of Health
That is the amount that is provided to the Department of Health for education. Yes.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Are you finding that is a sufficient amount to deliver the fulsome program you would like, or would you require more money?
5:10 p.m.
Government Relations Director, Washington State Department of Health
On this particular subject, the more money we had the more money we could spend. I don't think there is enough ever to provide as much education as we would like. However, the $7.5 million has given us a really good start. I can't complain about that number. Yes, if we were given more, we would do more. Absolutely.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
We heard testimony from some representatives from, I think, Colorado who stated they spend $9 million a year. One of their suggestions was the Government of Canada is allocating I think only $9 million, and of course Canada has 35 million people. Washington State has a little over seven million people. Is that right?
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Okay. I think one of his recommendations was that we increase spending on education from $9 million significantly, given the bigger population. Would you concur with that?
5:10 p.m.
Government Relations Director, Washington State Department of Health
I would absolutely concur that given your population and your diversity I would say you would probably need a much larger budget.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
I'm sorry if you answered this question. I didn't really catch you. Are there different tax percentages on medicinal versus recreational cannabis in Washington State?
5:10 p.m.
Government Relations Director, Washington State Department of Health
All marijuana that's sold in Washington State is subject to a 37% excise tax regardless of whether you're a patient or a recreational user. If you're a patient and in our database, you don't have to pay the additional about 10% sales tax. If you're a recreational user, you're paying the 37% plus sales tax. If you're a patient in the database, you don't pay that sales tax.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
What was Washington State's last annual revenue figure from tax revenue from cannabis?
5:10 p.m.
Government Relations Director, Washington State Department of Health
I could not answer that. I believe you will have Rick Garza from the Liquor and Cannabis Board testifying, and he would have that information.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
He did testify so I'll have to check my notes on that.
Ms. Weeks, I think Mr. Sabet testified—and I want Mr. Sabet to correct me if I'm wrong—that in all states that have legalized marijuana there are unsanctioned billboards, coupons, brightly coloured products, candies, ice cream infused with cannabis. I'll give him a chance to correct me if I'm wrong. If there's an error, it's mine, not his.
Is that the case in Washington State?
5:10 p.m.
Government Relations Director, Washington State Department of Health
The case in Washington is not exactly the same. We do have billboards, but there are limitations on what they can say. They can have the name of the company and directional information only. In terms of products, we do not allow any product that is especially attractive to children. Of course, a cookie is attractive to a child. It's also attractive to an adult, but what we don't allow are things like gummy candies, lollipops, ice cream, cotton candy, and hot chocolate. These are all kinds of products that have been disallowed because they have been found to be especially attractive to children.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
This cookie thing is coming up again.
Mr. Sabet, I want to come back to you. Did I misunderstand you?
5:10 p.m.
President, Smart Approaches to Marijuana
No. I think there's a diversity, but generally the edibles are allowed. Obviously, it's subjective in terms of whether this cookie is attractive to kids or not. In terms of billboards, the issue is, yes, there are regulations but they often are not met. In Oregon two days ago on social media—and again I'm happy to give all this physical evidence afterwards—there was a very large billboard on a major freeway advertising a certain marijuana company. In Oregon, if you're going to do any of that advertising, you have to have disclaimers on, for example, no one under 21 and also about driving. There was no disclaimer. Those weren't there.
There's a diversity of regulations, but in general this has been about commercialization. It's very difficult to limit that. There was a fight in Colorado and other places to try to limit the edibles. It's not an easy job to do.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Vasquez, I want to ask you a quick question. I visited a licensed dispensary in Vancouver this summer, and they told me that their single largest patient group was people who were addicted to opioids prescription pills mainly for pain management. These are not street-level drug users. These are people with back pain who have been prescribed opioids, OxyContin, etc., and who are seeking cannabis as a substitute to try to wean themselves off opioids.
Given the poor state of pain management for a lot of folks in our country, do you see any role for the use of cannabis in that respect to actually help people with the opioid crisis and with their pain?
5:15 p.m.
Retired Police Chief, Town of Erie, Colorado Police Department, As an Individual
I think there is an opportunity where this could help, but what we have heard here in Colorado over a period of time is that if we increase the use of medical marijuana for pain treatment we'll see a decrease in opioid use, and we haven't seen that. As I mentioned before, Colorado is number two in opioid overdoses in the country.
The second thing we've seen here in Colorado is polydrug abuse. Very rarely will you see somebody using just cannabis, just alcohol, or just opioids. Most of the people who are going into substance abuse treatment in Colorado are using and are addicted to multiple drugs.
In a short answer to your question, if it were to reduce pain and help manage pain and people were using less opioids, I think that would be a success, but so far I don't believe that's what we've seen in Colorado.