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Tobi Lebowitz, Co-Head of Legal Affairs at Jushi Holdings – Interview Series

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I would very much like to see the passage of the Safe Banking Act or similar legislation at the federal level. To have access to traditionally available capital and banking, top talent service providers, insurance coverage and perhaps listing on a US exchange would make our day-to-day lives so much easier and for lack of a better word, “safer”. It's the next logical step towards legitimizing the industry.

– Tobi Lebowitz

Tobi Lebowitz plays an instrumental role in Jushi Holdings which is a leading multi-state owner and operator of cannabis licenses. The company employs more than 1,200 and Tobi serves as the co-head of legal affair as well as the EVP. Having been engaged in the industry for quite some time now, we interviewed her to gain insights on Jushi Holdings and the industry as a whole.

Meet Tobi.   

As an intro, how did you find yourself in the cannabis industry?

There's a long story and a short story. The short story is that I was recruited. I had been working for a spin off in the aerospace industry that was acquired by Boeing in late 2018 and the idea of working at a startup in a burgeoning industry was very exciting to me. I got the job with Jushi and put on my seat belt ready for the wild ride, which has continued to be fast with many twists and turns and adventures along the way!

Jushi is a unique name, can you tell us what it means?

I like to tell people it's easy to pronounce. Just say “sushi” with a “J”.  A few years ago, there was an archaeological discovery by scientists in China of a middle-aged-man, believed to be a shaman of the ancient Jushi kingdom, who was buried in a grave along with 789 grams of cannabis. The pH levels of the soil in the tomb and the dry climate of the region preserved the green color of the flowers and they still contained a significant amount of THC after 2,700 years! Many of the researchers deduced that cannabis was most likely used for medical and spiritual use within the Jushi kingdom's culture and society. This discovery is the oldest known use of cannabis, and it served as the inspiration for our company name and mission.

 

Jushi's business model is doing things off-the-beaten-track. What inspired the strategy and has the learning curve been steep?

What's the fun if we did what everyone else was doing in the industry? We learned early that many founders of cannabis companies were short-term stock promoters and foresaw that those investments would not last – and they didn't. So we focused instead on building a strong management team of financial, legal and cannabis experts (that later expanded to include operations personnel) and identifying assets in limited-license markets that we believe have long-term value.

With regard to the learning curve, I come from another highly regulated industry – aerospace. There are many overlapping issues like heavy government oversight, strict manufacturing standards and quality reviews, so I am able to use my experience to issue-spot. Also, my Co-Head of Legal Affairs here at Jushi, Matt Leeth, and I have built a mini law firm essentially so everyone has a specialty and can efficiently resolve matters within their skill set. We also have a large network of external counsel that we can call when an issue is novel and/or outside our collective skill sets.

About Jushi's acquisition of Nature's Remedy; why was this a good move?

In an “off-the-beaten-track” manner, we didn't rush into the Massachusetts market like other cannabis companies did. We waited patiently for a fully, vertically integrated license in Massachusetts that had a known track record but could be expanded and for the right price. We found that in Nature's Remedy. We are hard at work reviewing its processes/procedures, techniques and recipes to build upon its success both within and outside the state in relation to our other operations.

What is the biggest change you want to see in the cannabis industry?  

I would very much like to see the passage of the Safe Banking Act or similar legislation at the federal level. To have access to traditionally available capital and banking, top talent service providers, insurance coverage and perhaps listing on a US exchange would make our day-to-day lives so much easier and for lack of a better word, “safer”. It's the next logical step towards legitimizing the industry.

What's next for Jushi?

We are always working on something in the pipeline. You'll just have to wait for our next Investor Update Series episode.

Thank-you Tobi for taking the time to share with us about your role and insights into the industry. Those wishing to learn more about Jushi Holdings can do so by checking this page.

Lydia K. (Bsc. RN) is a cannabis writer, which, considering where you’re reading this, makes perfect sense. Currently, she is a regular writer for Mace Media. In the past, she has written for MyBud, RX Leaf & Dine Magazine (Canada), CBDShopy (UK) and Cannavalate & Pharmadiol (Australia). She is best known for writing epic news articles and medical pieces. Occasionally, she deviates from news and science and creates humorous articles. And boy doesn't she love that! She equally enjoys ice cream, as should all right-thinking people.