Health committee  From a medical perspective.

Health committee  I like it better than 18, but to an extent there is some arbitrariness to it, I think. I understand the argument about driving people into the black market. I see all that. Again, understand the lens that we're using, which is the health and safety lens primarily. We leave the enforcement angle up to other people.

Health committee  They're very similar. As I alluded to earlier, a lot of people say, we'll make it 19 because that's what it is for alcohol, but in fact there's still debate and there's still controversy over that. I mean, that age limit was set a long time ago. A number of people who work in mental health services feel that this discussion should be reopened, and that perhaps a later age for alcohol as well would be appropriate.

Health committee  I understand what you're saying. It's certainly not our intent to appear adversarial, but expressing a certain degree of frustration around some of the conversations I think is.... I think we have been a bit frustrated by some of those conversations that have taken place. You're right.

Health committee  I would say that it's not entirely settled. There's no question that there's work left to be done. To your point, I think a lot of the studies are really retrospective. They're about looking at people who have smoked in the past and looking at the impact that may have had. There are a lot of confounding variables there, such as socio-economic status and different types of educational opportunities, but in controlling for those, we do see a difference in terms of things like educational attainment, IQ, vocational attainment, and these types of things, and it does appear to be primarily related to cannabis consumption.

Health committee  Thank you very much for the question. It's very important. Part of our submission is the importance of prevention, and part of that is education. It's helping young people to understand the risks of starting at a younger age and helping to disseminate the information they can use so that, again, they can make an informed decision in a way that currently they really don't have easy access to, with easy access to information in a way that they can digest.

Health committee  I'll reiterate what I said before, which is that for us one of the most challenging aspects of the discussion has been around the age. We've been a little surprised that people haven't been more respectful of the evidence and the real potential for damage. These are not theoretical lab models.

Health committee  Thank you very much for the question. I want to pick up on a couple of points. The point about education is extremely important. The latest numbers I've seen for the money that would be budgeted towards education for marijuana use for youth was $9.6 million, whereas the budget for the federal tobacco strategy, for example, is $38 million.

Health committee  Thank you. It's a fair question. I would say that we're really focused primarily on the medical evidence and what it shows about the effect of marijuana on the developing brain. We understand the other considerations. That's why we said that ideally 25 would be the right age, because brain development occurs up until that point.

Health committee  We hope they would.

Health committee  I do absolutely, and I think there's a lot that the federal government can learn from what's being done at the provincial level. You alluded to whether or not this is a national emergency. British Columbia has declared a provincial state of emergency, which it has done primarily to have access to some data that it would not otherwise have, not just on deaths by overdose, but on the actual number of overdoses.

Health committee  I think that would be one part of an overall strategy, to be able to identify those substances and act accordingly. I think many Canadians have been quite shocked to hear some of those statistics that fentanyl is making its way into other substances through this means. We've heard about importation from foreign countries.

Health committee  I don't think we have information on the exact number that's needed. I know that different municipalities have looked at their own individual needs. Certainly here in Ottawa we've had a number of conversations that perhaps more than one would be appropriate for our population. They've done some analyses in cities like Toronto and Montreal, and in other urban locations as well.

Health committee  Other than harm reduction?

Health committee  There are a number of pillars. There's the prevention piece, which we've heard about, and education for physicians and other care providers in looking at alternatives, with different types of pain management initiatives and interventions. There's the treatment for patients who are addicted, whether that's detox, which does not work very well for narcotic and opioid addictions, or whether that's substitution therapy with things like suboxone.