NuEra, a cannabis dispensary in Illinois, has recently announced their new location opening in Champaign.
“We’re gonna be right next to KAM’S,” Sean Alber, NuEra General Manager, said.
Construction is going now, and we are very adamant about getting the construction done and finalizing inspections for an opening around mid-April as a guesstimate.”
Pritzker’s legalization of recreational marijuana for adult use took effect on Jan. 1, 2020. Many stores were granted access to recreational marijuana licenses by mid-2020 as a result of this law.
“This store will be a rec-only or adult-use only dispensary, compared to the Urbana store where we can do both medical and recreational out of that store,” Alber said. “This store will be different in that we won’t be a medical supply.”
Since the new dispensary will be located near KAM’S, many people have chimed in and discussed the placement of this dispensary and what this means for the future of Campustown, especially during the pandemic.
“Just from the location, I figured more people would be outside of KAMS,” Matthew Mota, a senior in Engineering, said.
Given what we’ve seen from the pictures of the area, there are clearly people violating social distancing rules.”
Campustown is usually a very popular area in the community due to the various number of attractions that pique people’s interests. The pandemic has highlighted a concern for these congested places as COVID-19 continues to affect the community.
NuEra has been taking necessary precautions in order to stop the spread of the virus and will continue these safety measures once the new location opens in Champaign.
“Everybody is required to wear a mask,” Alber said. “Not only that, if there’s a line outside we would prefer people to be six feet apart. Just following all Centers for Disease Control guidelines as they come into the store — we will have markers on the ground that says please remain six feet apart. We also disinfect our spaces every 30 minutes,” Alber said.
The cannabis dispensary will most likely increase foot traffic in the area with its placement in Campustown and bring in a variety of people into the area.
“I do see the dispensary opening up as an overall positive,” Mota said. “The idea is good but just the timing interval does raise a few concerns, but it definitely would help out the community and takes a step forward to show how marijuana is not as bad as it’s been said to be for so many years prior.”

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