Herbal IQ is setting an aggressive timeline to open after being issued a CAURD license in May.
DEPEW, N.Y. — The race has been on to become the first state-licensed recreational marijuana dispensary to open up in Western New York.
There are several candidates with state licenses who are well on their way but on Monday the Village of Depew approved what could be the first one located in the Buffalo suburbs.
The dispensary is called Herbal I-Q and Mike Ortiz is the Chief Operations Officer.
“It’s been a lengthy process to get here. We were the 25th applicant to apply to New York State and in this last batch we were approved,” Ortiz said.
The Office of Cannabis Management’s regulatory board approved Herbal IQ’s conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) license at their May 11 meeting.
The team which includes owner Bradley Kyler of Olean and Ortiz from North Collins hit the ground running and while logistics have been a little challenging he said they were quickly able to find a location thanks to a local connection.
“At first it was almost like we couldn’t believe we’d