Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the House.
My name is Philippe Lucas. I'm vice-president of patient research and access for Tilray. I'm also a graduate researcher with the Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research, and I'm vice-chair of the Cannabis Council of Canada, an industry association representing licensed producers in Canada.
I'm speaking to you today as a long-term patient advocate for medical cannabis patients. I've been working in the space for over 20 years, initially as a patient, then as a patient advocate and provider, and over the last five years in my role at Tilray. Tilray is a global pioneer in medical cannabis research and distribution. Our products are available in 13 countries on five continents right now.
Tilray has done much over the years to work with Canadian veterans to improve the lives of those who might benefit from the use of medical cannabis. We currently serve more than 500 veterans registered with Veterans Affairs Canada. We're the title sponsor of the Wounded Warrior Run B.C. and the Highway of Heroes Bike Ride. Ironically while we're speaking here today, the Wounded Warrior Run B.C. is on its second day, and you will see veterans—police, military and first responder veterans—running from the top of Vancouver Island down to Victoria over the next week, through sleet, snow and rain, to raise attention, awareness and funds for vets who might be affected by PTSD.
Tilray has put in place some very VAC-specific services to aid veterans who might benefit from the use of medical cannabis. Those include putting in VAC limits where we charge all veterans $8.50 per gram—a sort of discount cost on the grams of cannabis they order from Tilray—to ensure they have access to the full selection of products that they need. We have also put in place what we call the VAC bridge program, which allows vets to order cannabis before their VAC approval goes through, to ensure that veterans are not out of pocket when they're ordering medical cannabis. On top of that, we have VAC specialists on staff who can work through approvals, denials and reimbursements with those veterans.
We're a leader in medical cannabis research, and that includes doing a phase two clinical trial at the University of British Columbia on medical cannabis as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. At 42 participants, that's the largest medical cannabis clinical trial to take place in Canada in at least the last four years, and the first medical cannabis clinical trial to examine the use of cannabis in the treatment of a mental health condition. Over the next few weeks, we'll be announcing a second site for that trial in British Columbia.
Today I want to share, very quickly, the results of the Canadian cannabis patient survey from 2017 that we ran. That survey at the time was the largest survey of Canadian patients to date, with 2,032 responses. I took this opportunity to break out the responses of patients who identified post-traumatic stress disorder as their primary condition.
What we see from these patients is that medical cannabis is primarily used in the treatment of chronic pain and mental health, but compared with other patients, those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to be disabled. They're more likely than the general population to report use for anxiety, stress and depression rather than simply chronic pain. They're more likely to use cannabis daily, and to use more than the average patient—2.1 grams per day versus the 1.5 gram average of other medical cannabis patients. They're more likely to use cannabis extracts.
Also, perhaps most important to this committee in looking at the health and welfare of veterans, they're also more likely to reduce their use of opioids, antidepressants and benzodiazepines as a result of their use of medical cannabis. According to data from Veterans Affairs Canada, the recent significant increase in the number of veterans using medical cannabis is paralleled by a nearly 43% decrease in the number of veterans using benzodiazepines and a 31% decrease in the number of veterans using opioids.
Tilray has put in place VAC-specific services to assist Canadian veterans, and today we're here to urge you to reassure veterans of the government's commitment to covering the cost of medical cannabis for veterans who might benefit from its use. We're urging you to remove the punitive excise tax as well as the sales tax on medical cannabis that's affecting critically and chronically ill Canadians across the nation, and to increase research funding to examine the therapeutic potential of medical cannabis in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, mental health and chronic pain.
I look forward to your questions, and I really appreciate being invited to speak to the committee today.