Ex-Ontario finance minister joins cannabis sector
TORONTO Former Ontario finance minister Charles Sousa — who was once in charge of administering the Liberal government’s cannabis retail plan — has become the latest politician to enter Canada’s multibillion dollar cannabis industry.
Sousa, who lost his seat in Ontario’s provincial election this past June, will join the board of Lobo Genetics, a Torontobased cannabis technology company that manufactures a device aimed at determining the extent to which a person will respond to certain strains of pot, depending on psychoactive potency.
“I spent some time as minister overseeing the cannabis file and figuring out how to best distribute cannabis as well as protect the health of Canadians. Lobo was interesting to me because it helps people detect and understand the consequences of THC on their health,” Sousa told the Financial Post.
The former politician said that he was impressed with the team at Lobo, and had been looking for a way to get involved in the “health side” of the cannabis industry. “I wanted to find a company that would enable us to look at what the consequences of legalization are to the health of Canadians. These guys are highly technical and very smart at what they do,” Sousa said.
Lobo’s CEO John Lem says that picking Sousa to be part of his company’s board was a “clear” choice, given that he used to be in charge of the LCBO and the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), until the Ford government came into power. “He generally understands the regulatory climate for cannabis and we felt he would be a good resource when it comes to navigating the cannabis space,” Lem said.
Lobo holds the exclusive licence and technology patent for “the Cube,” a small, portable plastic device that tests an individual’s DNA for genetic markers related to cannabis metabolism, risk and impairment.
For instance, if you purchase a certain strain of cannabis, and want to know how “stoned” you’ll actually get, a sample of your DNA collected using a cheek swab and placed on the “Cube” will reveal, within 45 minutes, how slowly or quickly your body metabolizes THC and CBD.
“We currently sell it directly to consumers, and we’re allowed to do that because we don’t offer any medical advice,” said Lem. “If the device were to be used in a medical setting, say in a clinic or hospital, we would have to get Health Canada’s permission to distribute the Cube.”
Lem says he plans to eventually sell the device to hospitals and clinics across North America, so it can be used as a testing tool by medical practitioners to determine how well a patient will be able to handle the consumption of cannabis.
Sousa joins the board of Lobo alongside Virginia Cirocco, a former executive at Shoppers Drug Mart, and Roger Dunbar, a marketing executive who led the Canadian operations of Ancestry.com, among others.