Health committee  I'm very familiar with it. The State of Washington has not begun selling legally in stores. They're starting to license them now. They've taken longer to do so. It's a bit of a different set-up. We'll see how that works. We can also look at states that have not technically legalized to learn what regulation does.

Health committee  Yes, thank you for the question. It's an unfortunate side effect that we've seen. The research burst in the mid-1980s after looking at tens of thousands of Swedish conscripts and a very tight study that I cite here. It's one of the most widely cited studies in the marijuana literature, which looked at and found a significant connection of marijuana with mental illness.

Health committee  Thank you for the question. They try to regulate the content, but it hasn't gone too well. That's mainly because, first of all, you have commercial interests that want to make sure they can do whatever they want with cannabis. That's why you have all of these edibles. Even when regulated, 15% THC does not make it safer than 15% THC marijuana that is smoked from the street.

Health committee  I'm not sure it is fair, sir. They would argue that their regulation is very strong. They would argue that they went through years...and made sure that what they did was as careful as it could be. The problem is that when you increase access and availability, when you legalize something, that is sending a signal to young people that the harmfulness has been reduced.

Health committee  Dr. Smith would be better to say, as she looks at these brains every day. But essentially, it's generally understood that it's between ages 25 and 28—and Dr. Smith, come in here—but my understanding is that in some people, the prefrontal cortex does not fully develop until even age 40.

Health committee  Well, permanent.... We still need to look at the research. What's interesting about the New Zealand study was that, even among adults who had quit using or reduced their use, that IQ reduction was still evident at 38, even though they had started in adolescence. That is definitely a worrying sign.

Health committee  You're probably referring to the lung issues that I talk about. What the American Lung Association and others have found is 50% to 70% more carcinogens than tobacco smoke. The link with lung cancer is mixed. Partially it's mixed because it's difficult to do the research when most of those heavy marijuana smokers who are being studied are also smoking tobacco cigarettes.

Health committee  I certainly agree with you.

Health committee  We know that one in eleven adults who tried cannabis will become addicted if they try it later in life, and one in six kids, as I mentioned earlier. I will say that the research showing one in six for the addiction rate was from the mid- to late-1990s when the cannabis was very different.

Health committee  Sure. I'm more than happy to respond. Thank you, Madam, for the question. Essentially, this study was looking at over 1,000 people born in the years 1971 and 1972 in the fourth largest city in New Zealand, Dunedin. It was an extraordinary study. I don't want to say that it was unprecedented, but it's a rare study.

Health committee  Don't worry, I'm not a Bruins fan. My wife is from Vancouver.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee, for inviting me to speak in front of you today, with the wonders of modern technology. I very much appreciate it. I'm here wearing a few different hats. I am the co-founder, along with Congressman Patrick Kennedy, of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.