A New Haven native is giving back to his community through his new cannabis dispensary.
Luis Vega is the CEO & owner of the newest dispensary in the state, Nautilus Botanicals, located at 63 Amity Road in New Haven.
The business, which offers medical and adult recreational-use cannabis, celebrated its grand opening over the weekend and has been a long time in the making.
The idea to open his own business came to Vega after being rejected by many places of employment due to his criminal conviction for the cultivation and potential sale of cannabis.
“I could not get a job anywhere. I applied to McDonald’s, they said ‘no.’ Everywhere you can imagine and I was just getting turned away,” Vega said.
It was then that he decided to dive deep into what he already knew, which was how to grow and sell cannabis, and that’s when the idea of Nautilus Botanicals came to life.
Vega says it was Connecticut’s Social Equity program, a program that looks to give back to people impacted by the war on drugs, that allowed him the opportunity to turn his criminal background from a negative into a positive business venture.
“Its pretty cool that the new laws kinda helped me move forward from being part of that war on drugs.”
As a person who was “justice impacted,” he looks to share the same opportunity with his employees.
“A lot of our staff is justice impacted, just as myself, so we want to make sure that there’s an opportunity for those who were harmed by the war on drugs to actually come in and take part of this process,” said Vega.
As a New Haven native, Vega’s goal is ultimately to give back to his community.
“If you can’t sit at the table with everyone else, create your table and bring your community with you.”
In addition to supporting small businesses through the items sold, Vega is also offering a display space for local artists.
“If we’re able to offer some wall space, some self space for local artists, to display their work, that’s not looking to take any cuts and really focus on them, this is a place for it.”
Nautilus Botanicals is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
