Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee again this morning. I will ask for the committee's understanding. I've had a bit of a cold in the last few days, so my voice is not as good as on Monday, but I will do the best I can. My colleag

Health committee  Cannabis can be classified as a therapeutic drug under the Food and Drugs Act. If a company wishes to market a drug in Canada, there is a process they can go through to apply to do so. Health Canada would review the evidence that is put forward to verify the product's safety, e

Health committee  I perhaps should have said in my first answer to the committee member's question, Mr. Chair, that the proposed cannabis act would provide greater flexibility for the minister to authorize different types of cannabis research than we do now. What I mean by that is it would improve

Health committee  We have a process around the security clearances that is in place principally for two reasons: to protect the integrity of the legal system as it stands now and to protect it against diversion. Very consciously we have made decisions around the requirements for security clearance

Health committee  Under the current system licensed producers are allowed to produce dried cannabis and cannabis oil, which can come in many forms.

Health committee  Do you mean an individual who is allowed to produce a limited amount of cannabis at home?

Health committee  No.

Health committee  That's a very good question. The answer is no. Part of that is in the design of the system, the various strict controls that we have up front in relation to security and who can be involved in this.

Health committee  I can categorically say, with respect to the licensed producers, that this is untrue, to our knowledge. If anyone had evidence to the contrary, it would be very important to bring it to the attention of the RCMP and others, and ultimately us, if there was a concern of that kind.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for that question. That's a question that actually the task force on cannabis legalization considered in its deliberations on the medical access system given the input and feedback that it received from patients and advocates about whether there couldn't be

Health committee  Perhaps what I would offer for the committee is that while cannabis for medical purposes has been used, as the other panellists acknowledged, for a very long time, the regulated system of access that we have in place in Canada was created only at the very end of 2013. So we are t

Health committee  I'll acknowledge, of course, that Canada is signatory to three international conventions, is quite aware of our obligations, and takes those obligations quite seriously. With this new legislation, I think the government made it pretty clear that its intention is to put public hea

Health committee  I'm not the best person to.... It's not my background to express an opinion or advise you on whether we are or we aren't in compliance at this point.

Health committee  Proactive public education and awareness activities are very important, and the government considers that a central feature of its approach to protecting health and safety and minimizing the risk of cannabis use. That's why the government made an initial investment of $9.6 millio

Health committee  Sure. One good example, which you might have heard about earlier this week, would be from Drug Free Kids Canada. Health Canada has been working with them. They produced a quite excellent guide for parents.