Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not going to keep us long because I know everybody's exhausted. We heard in every community, there were concerns raised about the age of consumption being set at 19 in this bill. The medical evidence does show that brain development of young people can be affected by cannabis consumption up to at least 25 years of age. We had health organizations ask us to raise the age limit for consumption. We heard that in some communities. It is only fair to say that that was not universal. I heard enough evidence that I felt that there needed to be some way to try to send very strong signals to youth that use of cannabis when you're below the age of 25 is not a good thing. I don't think public education is sufficient. We need something more. That is what this motion attempts to do is to set a lower possession limit for people aged between 19 and 25 years of age. In the bill, it would be 30 grams. This amendment would reduce the quantity to 10 grams. It's not ideal, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

I just want to note that for the record, the legal age of consumption for cannabis in the eight US states that have legalized possession is 21 years of age. The evidence that I've been provided by the medical community shows that increasing minimum age of consumption, even for tobacco for 21 years of age, over time decreases adult smoking, smoking-related deaths. It leads to reductions in youth smoking. I understand that that's related to tobacco, but I think the same will apply to cannabis. Any efforts that I think we can make to try to move in that direction, and that's what this amendment is aimed at, I think are in the public interest, and this is not to take away from the needs around public education and making proper curriculum in schools and so on, but I think this is an amendment that addresses a clear public need. Thanks, Mr. Chair.