Health committee  Thank you for the opportunity to address you on this important issue. I am the senior policy analyst for Transform Drug Policy Foundation, which is a U.K.-based charity and think tank. We're involved in policy analysis and advocacy in the field of drug policy, specifically drug

Health committee  Okay, I will conclude. I can take questions on more of the details and issues around that as we proceed.

Health committee  I just want to say that we are moving in many ways into uncharted waters with regard to treaties, so there are many questions outstanding in terms of how individual countries or countries working together should proceed to resolve the tensions that cannabis regulation is presenti

Health committee  It's actually quite early to tell. In Uruguay, the cannabis stores only opened very recently, within a matter of weeks ago. Probably the best evidence, and I think Beau could probably speak to this better than I can, would come from Colorado and Washington where the retail stores

Health committee  There are various mechanisms that are clearly outlined within the treaties themselves, and I'm sure Professor Hoffman can speak to this as well, by which the treaties can be modernized. Amendments can be tabled and they are then either accepted or subject to a conference of the p

Health committee  The problem is that those decisions have to be made by the group of member states, and there are many member states who would oppose such a move, so it becomes very difficult. Whilst there are a growing number of member states who are exploring options for regulation and are keen

Health committee  I have no visual here, so I can't see anything, unfortunately. I'm looking at a black screen. The signal is gone, but I can hear what's going on.

Health committee  The obvious solution would be for federal legalization to take place in the United States. That would presumably resolve the problem and may not be that far away. Many states have legalized or are about to. The Democratic Party has the path to legalization as part of its policy p

Health committee  I have mixed feelings about it. I think you're right that Colorado probably did move too fast, or the model they put in place for edibles was inadequate and did create problems. But I think it at least showed a success of the regulatory system. It acknowledged those problems and

Health committee  I agree with the legal analysis there that Canada would be in non-compliance with the cannabis section of the treaties, but I don't think withdrawal is a way to respect the treaty system. I think it's far more disrespectful to simply withdraw from the treaty system than to make a