Thank you, Mr. Chair. This was not one of the committee motions, but I am glad the mover has brought this forward because it is an important issue, and we did hear a lot about the age limit. Many Members spoke to the minimum age for consumption. I know that this motion does not change that or propose to change that.
The mover also spoke about the jurisdictions of the states with a minimum age of 21. They also have a minimum age of 21 for the consumption of alcohol. In the European countries that have legalized cannabis, their ages are much lower, lower than what is being proposed: 18 in the Netherlands, just to use two examples, and 18 in Portugal. Portugal, in particular, has been very successful at curbing underage use of cannabis and did not require a higher age to do it.
I think, if the intention here is to increase the age because of the concerns about brain development, the motion should read that way. I don't think that establishing a limit, a two-tiered system of possession, is going to be effective.
Chronic cannabis users can easily smoke 10 grams a day and be satisfied, I believe, and this doesn't change that. Consumption patterns are quite different in cannabis consumption than alcohol consumption. While I could see a better rationale if this was an alcohol limit, which would limit how many bottles you can buy or how much beer you could buy, dried cannabis is consumed very differently and has very different effects, and 10 grams is a lot of cannabis. It's not as much as 30, but it's still enough to get intoxicated off of.
I don't think this will have a huge difference, other than potentially putting someone between the age of 19 and 25 in criminal jeopardy should they go over that limit and be charged under the criminal code, and I think that is a significant concern for people aged 19 to 25. At this point, you're old enough to vote, you're most likely headed off to university if that's your choice, we're expecting you to be an adult, and, at this point, if public education has been put in place, you should be old enough to make responsible decisions, including how to responsibly use cannabis, and be very aware of the potentially hazardous effects it has on young brain development.
I should caution about the medical evidence we have on cannabis usage. It's not complete. It's an illegal substance, and, I've said this many times before, we haven't been able to study it as fully as tobacco or alcohol because it's been an illegal substance. The medical community is cautioning us with the best available evidence they have, and I'm not questioning that evidence, but what I'm saying is we don't know all the facts yet because we simply do not have enough evidence.
I don't think this is going to have an effect on cannabis consumption for those under the age of 25, and I think it does unduly create criminal jeopardy. Again, we should be using public education to support responsible cannabis usage and not heavy-handed measures like possession limits and Criminal Code charges. So I won't be supporting this amendment, thank you.