In the true spirit of the Thanksgiving season, local cannabis dispensary Big Gas Dispensary gave back to the New Paltz community with a Thanksgiving meal kit giveaway on Nov. 23. Big Gas, located at 98 North Chestnut St. (the former Stewart’s Shops gas station location), opened their New Paltz location this past April under the ownership of Kareem Haynesworth and his fiance, Zymia Lewis. Prior to opening the current retail location, Big Gas operated exclusively as a cannabis delivery service, serving Sullivan, Dutchess, Putnam, Orange and Ulster counties.
As a relatively new business in the New Paltz community, Big Gas emphasizes ideals of understanding, acceptance and inclusivity, as stated in their mission statement. Values such as these are especially important in times of need — soaring grocery prices and the cost of basic living have impacted millions of people across the country. Up to 74% of Americans have echoed concerns over the rising cost of food and consumer goods this past year, a struggle all too real for many. While inflation has slowly eased, falling from rates of 9.1% to 2.5 % between June 2022 and August 2024, actual consumer prices have remained 22% above pre-pandemic levels in the U.S.
Realizing the financial struggles many may face, Lewis and Haynesworth felt the need to do their part and give back to the community, which led to their recent Thanksgiving meal kit giveaway. “The goal was to be able to give back to our customers, because we’re in New Paltz. We really wanted to support the people that support us,” Lewis explained.
“We also just wanted to be able to help less fortunate people. We understand the times that we’re in and how difficult it is, and how expensive groceries are. We just wanted to make everyone’s holiday special.”
Big Gas welcomed everyone with open arms — “no questions asked” — on Nov. 23, ready to give away 100 pre-made Thanksgiving meals. These ready-to-go meals came with meat options, including turkey, ham or pork, a variety of vegetable choices, apple, pecan, sweet potato pie or cake, and a number of Thanksgiving essentials, such as rice, mac and cheese, cornbread, cranberry sauce and much more.
In order to pull off this gracious feat, Big Gas relied on the donations of their various cannabis vendors, who carry the products available for purchase in Big Gas’s retail location. “We asked for donations from vendors that we get our products from, and we put whatever the difference was to the total cost,” Lewis said.
Big Gas is the first legal cannabis dispensary in Ulster County and in New Paltz. Upon their grand opening, Big Gas became the 100th legal cannabis dispensary in the state of New York. Speaking to these remarkable achievements made by the dispensary, Lewis said, “It’s exciting. It’s fun. I think we’re able to make ground and just show other people through the process, and just be able to introduce cannabis in a way that people are not used to looking at it, just getting rid of that stigma that it’s ‘still bad’.”
Lewis and Haynesworth founded Big Gas roughly three years ago, transitioning from a strictly delivery service to in-person shopping. Haynesworth is what’s known as a “legacy” in the marijuana market — a person previously impacted by prior marijuana laws in the state, now granted licenses by New York State, with both a developed business background and hopes to open a legal dispensary. Prior to the legalization of cannabis in New York in March 2021, millions of residents were arrested for marijuana-based crimes over the past four decades, particularly those in communities disproportionately impacted (CDI) throughout the state.
However, the legalization of cannabis has since allowed users across the state a sense of freedom when it comes to partaking in marijuana usage. These new protections, along with the legacy market policies, ensure that those in the legacy feel supported through both the legality and resources provided by the state.
The New York Office of Cannabis Management, which oversees the rules and regulations regarding the cannabis industry, states that its goal is to “encourage members from communities disproportionately impacted by the policies of prohibition to participate in the new industry,” thus providing new dispensary owners with adequate support and the necessary resources to start their business. It also aims to encourage small business owners to take part in the cannabis industry “with the creation of microbusiness, cooperative and delivery license types.”
However, the urgency to enforce these legal dispensaries has come with difficulties, as Governor Kathy Hochul led a nearly three-month long crackdown on unlicensed cannabis retailers this past summer. She spearheaded the Illicit Cannabis Enforcement task force, which closed more than 345 unlicensed shops and seized more than $29 million in illegal cannabis products. Hochul stated that these unlicensed stores “have plagued our communities and siphoned business from licensed retailers,” and is ready to “look forward to building upon that success to continue our enforcement efforts across New York.”
According to the Office of Cannabis Management, licensed cannabis retailers currently report an average increase of 50% in sales statewide, and 97% in New York City.
Big Gas is conveniently located at 98 N. Chestnut Street, and offers a wide range of cannabis products for sale, including flower, prerolls, carts, vapes, concentrate, edibles, CBD topicals, tinctures and CBD-based beverages. Although they have their in-person location, Big Gas offers a delivery service for all of their products, which can be easily accessed through their new mobile app, available through both Apple and Android.
You can check out their Instagram @biggasdispensary for more information, or give them a call at (845) 633-8036. All customers must be 21+ in order to purchase any available products, both in-person and through delivery. Big Gas Dispensary is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Monday –Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, and 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sunday.
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