Health committee  We need a number of clarifications here. I'm sorry. Both Colorado and Washington had wide open cannabis sales under the medical guise before they formally legalized for non-medical use. At the beginning of their legal full commercial availability, prices in the “recreational” sto

Health committee  That's correct; a high tax to the equivalent in state monopoly retail. An alternative, as has been suggested by others, would be getting commercialization out entirely and allowing co-ops to do it, and then you could regulate those prices.

Health committee  Yes, if you're thinking of the in-state market. I don't know the numbers from Colorado. We estimated about two-thirds was legal in Washington state, a growing share for the legal market, which you would expect. As legal prices fall, the illicit market is going to disappear. It'

Health committee  I think you want the legal price to be somewhat below what the illegal price would have been. That should be adequate to get rid of the illegal market. The thing that hasn't been mentioned here is the necessity for enforcement. You essentially have what's now a tax evasion mark

Health committee  That is correct. Washington allows home cultivation for people with medical recommendations, but not for people who merely want to use it for non-medical purposes. That contrasts with Colorado, which does allow homegrown.

Health committee  Yes. They've had a big problem with people who want cannabis to be sold out of state using a chain of people purportedly home growing as a cover for illicit cultivation, essentially. I was a big fan of home growing to start with, based on the theory that you shouldn't push peopl

Health committee  I know they're moving toward restricting the number of plants. A cannabis plant can produce a wide variety of amounts, but if you allow people to grow six plants, they can produce a fair amount for export.

Health committee  This is a question on which I've changed my mind over time. I used to think that punishing users was an important way of suppressing illicit markets, and if that were true, I think I'd still be for it. I think the evidence now is that no country has created enough of a threat on

Health committee  Mister, please.

Health committee  No, I'm sorry, I meant $50 per gram of THC. For ordinarily potent cannabis in the U.S., which is now about 20% THC by weight, it would be something like $10 per gram, which was the illicit price in the U.S.

Health committee  The goal ought to be to not have the price decrease.

Health committee  If I may, on the age question, it's a very difficult question. It's certainly true that 16-year-olds get their supplies from 18-year-olds, so establishing an 18-year-old age limitation is going to increase use among younger people. It's also true that criminal records are catastr

Health committee  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's a great honour to have been asked to address this distinguished body as part of this genuinely historic process. I've been working on cannabis policy for almost four decades now. My firm was the adviser to the Washington State Liquor Con