Mr. Jay Wilgar reports

UP CANNABIS TO LAUNCH FIRST EXPERIENTIAL HUB IN ONTARIO MARKET

An "experiential hub" of Newstrike Brands Ltd.'s Up Cannabis Inc. will be featured prominently in Ontario's first Spiritleaf store, expected to be located in Kingston, Ont., in connection with a retail agreement entered into between Spiritleaf and an Ontario cannabis retail lottery winner.

Inner Spirit Holdings' Spirit Leaf Inc. has entered into an agreement with one of the initial 25 cannabis retail lottery winners in Ontario to open a Spiritleaf cannabis retail store in Kingston.

The Spiritleaf store -- the company's first in the Ontario market -- is planned to be located on Princess Street, in the heart of Kingston, and will feature an Up Cannabis experiential hub, or a "store within a store," designed to complement existing Spiritleaf design elements and provide education about cannabis, while showcasing both companies' love of music and various community and charitable endeavours. An opening date of April 1, 2019, is targeted, which will coincide with the launch of cannabis retail stores throughout Ontario.

"We are thrilled to partner with Spiritleaf and look forward to seeing an Up Cannabis experiential hub in one of the first retail stores in the province," commented Jay Wilgar, chief executive officer of both Newstrike and Up Cannabis. "Up Cannabis's ties to Kingston run deep as the hometown of our partners, The Tragically Hip, with many special milestones in our company's history taking place there and more to come. We're excited to see the stars aligning for both our brands as the Ontario retail marketplace takes shape."

The news follows the investment agreement and strategic alliance agreement entered into between Newstrike and Inner Spirit, whereby each of the companies acquired equity interests in each other, and provides for the retail distribution of Up Cannabis products as well as the creation and operation of Up Cannabis-branded customer lounges or experiential hubs in Spiritleaf stores, as regulations allow. Inner Spirit currently has four Spiritleaf retail franchise stores with Up Cannabis experiential hubs currently operating in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with a fifth outlet scheduled to open in Calgary on Feb. 14, 2019.

Other matters

In connection with recent executive appointments, the company has granted incentive stock options to purchase up to an aggregate of 1.5 million common shares of the company. The options are exercisable for a period of five years at a price of 56 cents per share, based on the 15-day volume-weighted average price of Newstrike's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange as of Feb. 11, 2019, plus a premium of 10 per cent. All options were granted in accordance with the company's stock option plan.

About Newstrike Brands Ltd. and Up Cannabis Inc.

Newstrike is the parent company of Up Cannabis, a licensed producer of cannabis that is licensed to both cultivate and sell cannabis in all acceptable forms.

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