After pot conviction, NY couple plans for legal dispensary

By CLAUDIA TORRENS
The Associated Press

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — A couple who endured the war on drugs, including jail time, is now eager to open a recreational marijuana dispensary in New York. The state plans to reserve the first 100 retail cannabis licenses for people with marijuana-related convictions. Eladio Guzmán spent two years in jail for selling drugs, missing the birth of his first child. His wife Melissa Guzmán witnessed the arrest of several relatives and her uncle’s decade in jail, and later deportation to the Dominican Republic. Now, the couple is working to get an application for a license to open a dispensary in Queens and often talk about the looks, size and design of their future store, which they would call “Fumaoo.”