Take a walk down just about any block in New York City nowadays and you’re bound to come across a bustling smoke shop or dispensary—and it’s no surprise that these establishments are only continuing to gain traction. But there are a handful of women operating elevated cannabis dispensaries that offer something different: a more equitable, inviting, and aesthetically pleasing space that flips the traditional smoke-shop narrative on its head.

Here’s a refresher on how we got here: New York State has firmly leaned into the popularity of cannabis consumption, starting with the legalization of the psychoactive drug for medicinal use in 2016 and then for recreational purposes in 2021. While cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, there’s another reason you’re likely seeing more marijuana-centric businesses than ever. Since 2022, the state has also invested millions of dollars into organizations like the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensing program (CAURD) and Social and Economic Equity initiative (SEE), each created to aid individuals impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.

“I really wanted to create a Sephora for weed,” says Alta Dispensary founder Vanessa Yee-Chan, who was among the first wave of approved New York license applicants without a prior cannabis conviction, in October 2023. She opened her Lower Manhattan dispensary in 2024 to help sustain ownership of the building her grandparents purchased in the mid-’70s, after fleeing war-torn Mozambique.

Vanessa Yee-Chan, founder of Alta Dispensary

“The programs the state has rolled out prioritize social injustice and those previously convicted of marijuana charges, so those are the majority of people who have stores right now,” Yee-Chan tells Bazaar. “I’m just a minority woman business owner, so I do get a little bit of priority [for the license], but not as much as those of the first round,” she adds. The founder first began incorporating regular cannabis use into her routine as a means to cope with ongoing insomnia and anxiety issues. Yee-Chan opened Alta Dispensary to not only provide a more welcoming environment for those who may have been intimidated in the past about entering a traditional smoke shop but also make it easier for customers to educate themselves about what they’re consuming. “Our offerings aren’t organized by brand or how you want to consume,” the founder continues. “For me, it’s more about the intentionality and what you’re coming in to learn and use it for.”

Inside Alta Dispensary in Lower Manhattan

A closer look at one of the cannabis education areas at Alta Dispensary

Yee-Chan and her brother collaborated to create Alta’s aesthetic, which features a more feminine touch, courtesy of its dusty-rose coloring and calming ambient lighting. In addition to retailing THC and CBD products, the dispensary also serves as a larger wellness space, hosting between five and six events a month that include yoga, meditation, and other activities, with a portion of the proceeds donated to nonprofits that benefit the Chinatown community.

A few blocks north of Alta sits Dagmar Cannabis, a thriving business in SoHo created by fashion photojournalist Jennifer Tzar, who counts celebrities like Ray Liotta, Willem Dafoe, Mary J. Blige, Bruce Springsteen, and Snoop Dogg as former subjects. One of the first recipients of New York’s CAURD program and the first female dispensary owner in New York City, Tzar briefly served time at Riker’s Island for cannabis possession in 2013 after becoming illegally involved in the business for a handful of months. “I finally got out, went through a six-month trial, and got off, except for a felony on my record,” she explains.

Jennifer Tzar, founder of Dagmar Cannabis

Tzar, a bar owner, relocated to Hudson, New York, and later Los Angeles before she was alerted by a friend about a new legalization initiative back in New York State that prioritized women and people of color who have run a profitable business for longer than two years and had prior cannabis arrests. Though the program served as somewhat of a reckoning for her time served at Riker’s, the Dagmar Cannabis founder was initially hesitant to open her own shop in January 2024. “I told my friend, ‘The last thing I want to do is open a cannabis dispensary,’ and she said, ‘You should. You can make a lot of money doing it,’ ” Tzar continues. “And then I started thinking, well, how can I apply it to fashion and women and make it elegant? Then I started coming up with ideas and just got obsessed.”

An exterior view of Dagmar Cannabis

Dagmar’s clientele is likely what you would expect to find in the SoHo area, including a frequent influx of A-list celebrities and stylish cannabis enthusiasts. Tzar says the name Dagmar itself helped inspire the art-deco ethos of her dispensary, which, to her, evokes a sense of elegance. “I just love the name, because I imagine this really glamorous woman who’s confident and super elegant, smoking with a cigarette holder or something,” she explains.

Like Yee-Chan, Tzar sought to create a welcoming dispensary space in New York with a wide variety of offerings from its 24 vendors, which include a mix of vapes, edibles, pre-rolls, and flower. Despite running an efficient cannabis business, Tzar says she still faces skepticism as a female founder. “I bleed for this so hard, and I just constantly have men thinking that they know more than me and my team,” she explains. “We’re constantly bombarded with men who are trying to tell us how we can do a better job.”

Similar to Tzar, entrepreneur Nicole Lucien also opened her Upper East Side dispensary, Bliss + Lex, in 2024 through the CAURD program with her husband, Chris, who was convicted of cannabis distribution over 20 years ago. “I smoked before I met my husband, and he smoked before he met me,” Lucien explains. “We were often kind of the ones who would provide cannabis products to different family members and friends. So it kind of made sense when this opportunity came up; because of my husband’s cannabis conviction, we qualified for the license.” Lucien’s prior work experience as an education consultant for several years also laid the groundwork for their company’s foundation as part of the last group of New York dispensary license holders in 2023.

Nicole and Chris Lucien, owners of Bliss + Lex cannabis dispensary

As New York City’s first Black female dispensary owner, Lucien is passionate about not only introducing new and existing customers to the benefits of cannabis but also changing the narrative regarding those disproportionately impacted by prior legislation. “It’s important for us to be part of breaking the stigma. It doesn’t make sense for this whole campaign to make cannabis mainstream and acceptable if those who were most affected and on the front lines are not a part of that,” she adds. “My husband and I take it very seriously as representatives in the Black community and the cannabis space. We’re very intentional about making sure to provide shelf space to Black-owned brands and businesses and providing mentorship and guidance to other licensees and businesses who come to us.”

A customer transaction at New York City’s Bliss + Lex

The exterior view of Bliss + Lex

Nicole and Chris, both native New Yorkers, chose Bliss + Lex’s location at East 86th Street and Lexington Avenue for specific reasons. For one, the couple considers the affluent neighborhood a key shopping destination, but they also recognize the importance of their presence in the area as a marker of change. But when it comes to her experience as a woman in the cannabis industry, Lucien says the journey hasn’t always been easy. As of 2025, Bliss + Lex’s customer base consists of a roughly 60 percent male, 40 percent female in-store demographic.

“There are positives and negatives of being a woman leader in the cannabis space,” she says. “I meet women every day who tell me they’re inspired by what they see me doing and ask for advice, which is inspiring to me. But some of the more difficult times are when people underestimate me as a woman. My husband and I run the business together and make decisions jointly, but often, as a woman, you see that people may try to silence you, or belittle your experience and ideas, and then try to represent them as their own. A lot of the same things that I saw in corporate America happen in the cannabis space.”

Although the cannabis business is still largely viewed as a boys’ club, women like Yee-Chan, Tzar, and Lucien are crafting their own seats at a new table where all are welcome. “For me, it was never about the sales numbers; it was about the community that I was building,” the Alta Dispensary founder adds. “I think that a lot of women owners are building those kinds of communities more than men. But, you know, I’m probably biased.”