Cannabis Media Spotlight Series: Q&A with Jaime Lubin, Editor-At-Large, Honeysuckle Magazine

Welcome to the Cannabis Media Spotlight Series! We created this Q&A series to celebrate the incredible work that reporters, editors, and podcast hosts do to shed light on the cannabis industry. Their insights and stories play a vital role in shaping how this space is understood and appreciated by the world.

Our goal is to highlight their journey, their expertise, and the meaningful impact of their work.

This week we're featuring Jaime Lubin, Editor-At-Large, Honeysuckle Magazine (Honeysuckle Media).

Jaime Lubin is a writer, content creator, performer and media professional whose work stands the test of time. She currently serves as Editor-At-Large for the award-winning media company Honeysuckle Magazine (initially coming on as Managing Editor 2017-2019, Executive Editor 2019-2021). At Honeysuckle, Jaime oversees content and development strategy for the brand’s print and digital arms, coordinating daily content for 100K+ followers and working on landmark campaigns that permanently impact New York advertising policy.

So what inspired her to step into the world of cannabis journalism? What does her day-to-day look like? Discover the answers (and more) below.

What inspired you to start covering the cannabis industry, and how has your perspective evolved since you began?

I joined Honeysuckle in 2017, when the focus of the company overall was growing to incorporate cannabis into its storytelling. Honeysuckle was already known for reportage on themes around social justice, the arts, planetary wellness, and sexuality, and sought to normalize "taboo" topics into mainstream conversation.

Cannabis in New York was experiencing an important shift at the time from a totally underground legacy market to a fascinating forum where advocates, industry pioneers, legacy operators, and investigators could mix. It coincided with a wider movement across the nation, as more states legalized medically, and there was more willingness for consumers and professionals to go public. This all fit with Honeysuckle's natural foci.

As a journalist, I found that each person in the cannabis space had a unique story and relationship with the plant, and that every component in this evolving movement - the brands, the events, the campaigns for legalization, the conversations being had about the powers of this plant to revolutionize our society - were some of the most exciting things I had ever been invited to cover. It was documenting historical moments in real time.

In 2017, I was not a cannabis consumer, but I believed in nationwide legalization. Meeting people who lived and breathed the plant, who had been to prison over it, who had sacrificed so much for its freedom, and who understood its potential for wellness was inspiring. In 2018, I was fired from a part-time job because the company discovered I was writing about cannabis. This fueled me to give advocacy and education even more of my all. To this day, I am convinced that the cannabis industry's biggest hurdle is learning to open up the conversations with people who don't understand anything about the plant. Learning to navigate the cannabis space is a cultural immersion, like learning another language. I long for it to be more universally accessible and welcoming to all.

What does a typical day look like for you as a journalist/editor/podcast host in the cannabis space?

My situation as a cannabis media professional has changed a lot this year. Due to a mix of circumstances, I have chosen to be much more hands-off from the cannabis space. But when I was involved in covering the industry 24/7, every day was different. I would constantly start my day working on article drafts, either writing or copyediting, and then formatting content for the Honeysuckle website.

If I was at my desk for the day, I would often have Zooms or calls with our team members and different industry professionals, generally doing interviews for articles or coordinating logistics for events that we would be covering or participating in. In between, and late into the night, I would be researching and fact-checking for various stories, writing new articles, and creating copy for our social media and marketing materials. If we were scheduled to be at a major event, like the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo (now Cannabis Meets Business), I could easily be at the event - networking, manning a booth, interviewing speakers and attendees, doing social media - from very early in the morning to the closing hours in the late afternoon, then shifting to work at after-parties at night, all while overseeing the publication process on various projects.

If I was covering something like a Cannabis Control Board meeting, I would attend the meeting in person, taking constant notes and videos for social media, and get quotes from other attendees who represented various aspects of the industry. (During the injunctions against the Office of Cannabis Management in 2023, I traveled to Albany and Ulster County to see court and policy proceedings live.) For media professional, the cannabis space is all-encompassing and exhausting, with a nonstop pace. It can take over your life if you let it. Finding your balance is essential.

What are some of the most compelling trends, stories, or issues in the cannabis industry right now that you think deserve more attention?

There is definitely a lot happening across international spaces in the cannabis industry. Honeysuckle has been doing some very interesting reportage on developments in countries like Germany, Japan, and Thailand, among others. What happens to cannabis in other nations will certainly have an impact on how our industry evolves in the U.S., because this could influence the United Nations doctrines on controlled substances.

Many people do not realize that, as it stands currently, the U.S. cannot legalize cannabis on a federal level without violating international treaties. If enough countries work together to change these global doctrines, we could potentially see an easier path toward federal legalization here.

Personally, I would love to see more coverage on subjects that would help the general consumer or patient approach cannabis. Not recommendations on products, but stories about how to get your healthcare professionals onboard if they aren't educated on the plant; what medical studies are showing about cannabis as a wellness or treatment tool in this "post-medical-legalization era;" or ways for them to engage with CBD or hemp that aren't scary, like using CBD balm for sore muscles.

It would be helpful to show how the issues paramount to cannabis legalization are more holistic - that if we can change the laws to stop criminalizing people who love the plant, maybe we can change other laws built on bias as well. If we can get people to consider their wellness with CBD, maybe we can encourage them to embrace other aspects of "sustainable living." It's a gradual process, but it's one that needs to reach to the public for any chance of success.

What advice would you give to cannabis businesses or PR professionals hoping to connect with you or pitch their stories effectively?

Honeysuckle is always interested in exciting new industry developments, particularly if a story has a first-of-its-kind angle or some national/international significance. We also love the opportunity to participate in creating a narrative - think an exclusive interview or a behind-the-scenes look into something that hasn't been shared before.

From a PR standpoint, having press releases and kits that are as fully formed as possible is extremely helpful. It's a blessing to editors and journalists if a publicist or company can give you quotes that are ready to go, bios and images of key people, action shots (especially if you're promoting an event), and social media handles. And be as clear as you can with expected deadlines; that's just common courtesy. Being provided with these elements allows for the editor/journalist maximize time and care on getting the story just right, which is a win for everybody.

What’s been one of the most memorable stories or moments in your career covering cannabis so far?

There are too many great stories to tell here! But I think one of the most important happened right back at "the beginning" of Honeysuckle's entry into the cannabis industry. We attended MJBizCon in Las Vegas in November 2017 - this was our first time at the conference, the first time they had held the event in Vegas, and we were one of the first culture-focused publications ever allowed to attend. It was transformative.

Over four days, we met so many people who would become key to our understanding of the cannabis space. One of my favorite interviews conducted there was with Dr. Inbar Maymon-Pomeranchik, an Israeli scientist who founded the biotechnology company BioDiligence. A student of Raphael Mechoulam, the godfather of cannabis research, Dr. Maymon-Pomeranchik spoke to me about the incredible medical effects that cannabis had had on patients worldwide, and what studies were revealing about the plant's powers as a health tool.

At the time, I knew the basics about cannabis for wellness, but her scientific explanations took the conversation to a new level of specificity and biological possibility. I loved the futurism and the optimism that came from our interview, as well as the buzzy energy of MJBizCon as a whole.

During that trip, I became enraptured by what people were embracing as the Green Revolution - the idea that if cannabis evolved in the right hands, it could bring about new standards for representation in business, create new medical pathways for patients, solve environmental issues, and offer worlds of operation based on passion and ethics rather than bottom lines. Sadly, what the cannabis industry has become today is not everything that the conferences of 2017 promised.

If you were to ask my my views on the industry as it stands today, particularly in certain U.S. markets, I would be a bit more cynical in my answers. But what I experienced at MJBiz then, and what I believe should still be a goal now, is a hope that bonded people from all walks of life together. Hope for a better world, and hope that somehow, with enough conviction, we can each find a purposeful place in it. What I'd say to all cannabis media professionals is that we now have the responsibility of stewarding others to keep that hope alive.