Thanks so much for that question and the evident passion behind it. I think you reflect the challenges that the department has had in dealing with the issue.
What I would tell you is that the consultations were actually quite extensive. We are very concerned and focused in the department on establishing evidence-based policy. There was extensive consultation with medical experts and the literature, and the minister commented on the fact that even the college of physicians has made it absolutely clear to its membership that three grams a day is the upper limit of what it perceives to be a safety factor for the use of marijuana.
Those kinds of considerations very much influence what we were doing. We have to be concerned, obviously, with the health and well-being of veterans. The policy was framed in that context. We wanted to focus on it if we are going to reimburse, and that's all we do. The Department of Veterans Affairs treatment program only reimburses. We do not prescribe. We do not authorize.
The issue you are raising is a fundamental challenge that we have in the Canadian context and abroad, because there is very little research to show from a scientific perspective what efficacy is achieved through this. We have to formulate a policy based on weighing the anecdotal evidence that we heard from veterans and their partners with where the scientific evidence seems to be. Those two do not necessarily map together very well.
Again, we were charged with developing a reimbursement policy rooted in the health and well-being of veterans. Given those concerns and the recommendations of numerous professionals in the field, we landed on the three grams.