For Bee Duangtavilay, opening cannabis dispensary Puffalo Dreams in Tonawanda, a suburb of Buffalo, was an opportunity to legitimize a business she was already familiar with.
Duangtavilay is a recreational user and spent time within the underground scene selling and distributing cannabis to maintain her livelihood.
“I knew cannabis was a way out of poverty for my family,” she said.
Duangtavilay was born in a Laotian refugee camp after her mom left Thailand, and she and her siblings have been manifesting a better life ever since. With various businesses under her belt — including a clothing boutique and some real estate property — a dispensary was another way to sustain her family’s legacy.
“Being able to come to America and live this dream,” she said, “it’s like you were meant to be here.”
click to enlarge MAX SCHULTE. Puffalo Dreams is the first adult-use cannabis dispensary in Western New York owned by minority women. Opening Puffalo Dreams with co-owner Jamie Donato Rivera, who is from Puerto Rico, was worth all the paperwork and anxiety that came with the process, including a fortuitous mistake along the way. While rushing to complete the dispensary application, Duangtavilay, a Rochester
