It took about three years of work before Ricardo and Alesha Chambers were able to open their legal cannabis dispensary, Pure Wellness, on Ridge Road in late July.
The married couple purchased the building for $499,000 in January 2024, then refurbished the interior. They transformed the space, which was previously the home of Iron Tug Brewing before it moved to Park Avenue in Rochester, into a modern, well-lit dispensary. The state requires prospective dispensary owners to have a location ready before they can receive a license under the Conditional Adult-use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) program.
At the end of July, the dispensary finally opened with approval from the state.
Then came a letter from the state Office of Cannabis Management. It told the couple that under a new interpretation of state law, the couple had opened their store too close to a school — in this case, RISE Community School No. 106. Their future at the location was now in jeopardy.
“We wouldn’t be able to recover from that,” Alesha Chambers said. “We purchased this building, so that would mean trying to find a new building to purchase, trying to sell this one, and then moving all of the product and everything. We don’t have any investors, it’s just me and him.”
Under the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act, the state law that legalized adult-use cannabis, dispensaries must be located at least 500 feet from schools. Previously, the OCM measured that distance from schools' entrances. But the agency said under the new interpretation, the distance must be measured from dispensaries' entrances to schools' property lines.
Suddenly, 108 dispensaries across the state were out of compliance with the rule, including Pure Wellness. Most are in New York City. One other in Monroe County, Good Life Collective on Monroe Avenue, was also sent a letter on the violation. The owner of Good Life Collective did not return a call seeking comment.
The state quickly backtracked on how it would enforce the law. Last week, OCM acting director Felicia Reid issued a second letter to cannabis dispensaries, advising them that the state would not be ordering any dispensaries to close and that they could continue business as usual.
“I want to reassure each of you that Governor (Kathy) Hochul understands the injustice to impacted businesses in how previous OCM leadership set in place a practice that did not comply with Cannabis Law,” Reid wrote in the letter. “The governor is committed to fighting for impacted cannabusinesses so that they can continue living MRTA’s economic development mission and remain a vital and vibrant part of their communities.”
But how the discrepancy will be resolved is unclear. The letter from Reid noted that she is working with Hochul to reach a legislative solution by January, when state lawmakers return to office.
Along with the 108 dispensaries affected, 44 applicants waiting to open a dispensary also found themselves in violation of the policy change. Those applicants will not be able to open a dispensary until a legislative solution is found.
To address that, the state is offering a pot totaling $15 million in relief funds to applicants as they await a resolution. Each applicant would be offered up to $250,000 in relief. Dispensaries that are already open are not eligible for those funds.
For Chambers, facing a new trial from the state just weeks after opening is a challenge. But she's hopeful.
“I’m just hoping that everything works out,” Chambers said. “Because we did follow all of the rules, we followed all of the guidelines, any question we had, we reached out.”
