Javier Hasse, Editor-in-Chief of High Times, was named International Journalist of the Year at the Business of Cannabis Awards 2026 in London - a recognition drawn from nearly 250 entries across eight countries, the largest field in the award's three-year history. The ceremony followed the close of Cannabis Europa London at the Barbican and was held at 83 Rivington, hosted by Romana Testasecca. For a trade press category still working out what international cannabis coverage actually means in an era of fragmented regulation, the size of this year's entry pool says something worth paying attention to.
A Crowded Field, a Global Media Beat
The nominees alongside Hasse reflected the breadth of cannabis journalism now operating across Europe and beyond: Lukas Hurt of Magazine Konopi, Aurélien Bernard of Newsweed, João Costa of Cannareporter, Moritz Förster of Krautinvest, Liam O'Dowd of Leafie, Jodie Yettram, and Sara Payan of the Planted with Sara Payan Podcast. Special mentions went to Yettram for her coverage of the cannabis sector in Jersey and to Bernard for his independent reporting on the European market.
That's a list spanning Czech, French, Portuguese, German, Irish, and English-language outlets - and it reflects a media environment where operators, investors, and regulators increasingly need coverage that crosses jurisdictions. Compliance regimes in Germany, Malta, the UK medical market, and emerging frameworks elsewhere don't map neatly onto each other. The journalists building fluency across those systems are doing genuinely difficult work.
Hasse accepted the award with characteristic directness: "No award like this belongs to one person. It belongs to the editors, writers, colleagues, collaborators, photographers, sources, readers and teams that make the work possible day after day."
What Hasse Brings to the Beat
Beyond the High Times masthead, Hasse's professional profile is unusually layered for a cannabis journalist. He co-founded El Planteo, a Spanish-language media platform covering cannabis and psychedelics, and IgniteIt. He has contributed to Forbes since 2019 and has published two books - through Hachette's Sheldon Press and Entrepreneur Media, respectively. He was previously named Cannabis Journalist of the Year at the 2024 Emjays International Cannabis Awards.
The thing is, that combination - editorial leadership at an iconic U.S. brand alongside multilingual, multinational output - is exactly what the "international" framing of this award seems designed to recognize. High Times has been expanding its global coverage under his leadership, and the reach of El Planteo into Spanish-speaking markets represents a lane of cannabis business media that remains undercovered relative to the size of those markets.
"To my teams at High Times, El Planteo and IgniteIt: thank you for building with me, pushing with me and believing in the work even when the pace gets a little insane," Hasse said in a statement following the ceremony. "And to the people who trusted me with their stories, especially when it wasn't easy, thank you most of all."
The Broader Picture at Business of Cannabis 2026
The awards, organized by Prohibition Partners and Cannabis Europa, covered the full range of licensed-industry categories. Curaleaf took honors in two categories - Curaleaf Clinic UK as Cannabis Clinic of the Year and Curaleaf Laboratories as Cannabis Team of the Year - while Bloomwell Group claimed Consumer Technology Provider of the Year and its CEO Niklas Kouparanis was named Business Leader of the Year. Village Farms International won Producer of the Year; VIST Labs took AgriTech Provider of the Year; Curaleaf International was named European Company of the Year; and Nicole Farah of Americana PR was recognized as Industry Rising Star.
The evening also introduced the inaugural Hannah Deacon Award, presented by MP Tonia Antoniazzi to Carola Pérez of Dos Emociones and We, The Patients. Created in memory of a widely respected patient advocate, the award placed patient access and reform advocacy at the center of the ceremony - a deliberate signal from organizers about where they see the industry's obligations sitting alongside its commercial growth.
For operators and investors tracking the European regulatory environment, the Business of Cannabis Awards function as a useful barometer: which companies are building credibility with the institutional side of the industry, which media voices are being recognized as setting the terms of informed debate, and where the patient-access conversation is heading as more jurisdictions work through their own frameworks. Hasse's recognition, in that context, is less a media industry footnote and more a data point about which outlets and editorial voices the professional cannabis community considers worth following.
