Overcoming lingering stigma, unfriendly neighbors, outdated zoning laws and a last-minute lawsuit, an Orange County couple officially opened the doors Wednesday to the first cannabis dispensary in Ulster County and the 100th in New York state.
The former Stewart’s Shops gas station on North Chestnut Street has been converted into the village of New Paltz’s first cannabis dispensary, Big Gas Cannabis.
Owned by Middletown resident Kareem Haynesworth and his wife, Zymia Lewis, the company was founded in 2023 as a cannabis delivery service.
Chris Alexander, executive director of the New York Office of Cannabis Management, made the first purchase – a packet of Raspberry Rainbow THC caramels by Softer Power Sweets, a subsidiary of Lagusta’s Luscious vegan chocolates in New Paltz.
“From legacy to legal, thank you for supporting us,” Haynesworth said, shaking Alexander’s hand as he made the sale.
NY weed:Where are legal dispensaries? See the map
Eager to put down roots as a brick-and-mortar storefront, Haynesworth and Lewis set their sights on Ulster County’s college town.
“New Paltz was one of our top picks,” Lewis said. “Knowing how cannabis-friendly they are.”
Both the village and the university have long held a reputation as a haven for hippies and stoners alike, but that reputation has historically carried a steep price.
For decades, students found in possession of any “narcotic, illegal drug or controlled substance, ” including cannabis and its derivatives, unless prescribed by a licensed physician, were subject to SUNY New Paltz’s “two-strike policy,” which mandated expulsion on a student’s second offense and often resulted in academic probation or suspension, removal from on-campus residency and parental notification at the first offense.
SUNY New Paltz did away with the two-strike policy for the 2018-2019 school year, according to The Oracle, SUNY New Paltz’s student-run campus publication, aligning itself with other SUNY schools that employ a three-strikes policy or several levels of sanctions – including participation in intervention programs, substance education classes or disciplinary probation – before considering expulsion.
Despite New York’s decriminalization of the sale and use of cannabis in 2020, its use or possession remains prohibited on SUNY campuses because federal law still considers cannabis a controlled substance.
New Paltz Deputy Mayor Alex Wojcik, a SUNY New Paltz alum, criticized the SUNY cannabis policy for diverging from its alcohol policy.
“New York state wrote and enacted a cannabis law that takes equity and justice into account, so continuing to criminalize cannabis in an academic setting in ways inconsistent with alcohol use is grossly in opposition to the spirit of New York state cannabis law,” they said. “If students 21 and up may possess alcohol, the same should apply to cannabis.”
Big Gas Dispensary is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Big Gas Dispensary open for cannabis sales in New Paltz – Times Herald-Record
