Featuring: Lemwhir Valette | Written and Interviewed by: Jai Morzaria

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In a city defined by pace, pressure, and relentless energy, a new kind of athlete is emerging, one who refuses to separate performance from wellness, or culture from cannabis. Lemwhir Valette, known as LEMS, embodies that shift. Rooted in New York City’s street-born athletic traditions and fueled by a deep understanding of the plant, he’s building a movement that merges cannabis, community, and movement into a unified lifestyle. 

At the intersection of sport, culture, and entrepreneurship, LEMS has built a platform that extends far beyond personal performance. As the founder of commUNITY Run Club NY, he has orchestrated over 200 runs across New York City, collaborating with more than 90 dispensaries and over 50 cannabis brands. Each run serves as both an activation and an educational experience, integrating cannabis into wellness through curated consumption methods and intentional community building. Today, he’s changing the game as an emerging athletic creator pushing cannabis into culinary, lifestyle, and performance-driven spaces.

To find where it all begins, you have to step into his world, back to the streets, the rhythm of movement, and the moments that shaped a philosophy now echoing across one of New York City’s most distinct cannabis-driven athletic communities.

“High, my name is Lemwhir Valette, or as many know me, LEMS; LOVE EAT MOVE SMOKE.

I’m a 36-year-old Cuban-Dominican from the greatest city in the world, NYC. I’m proud to be involved with brands and movements like CHEF FOR HIGHER, HAI for NY, OLIO NY, and several others that continue pushing culture and community forward. Today, I’m the owner of commUNITY Run Club NY, a movement-driven run club built around cannabis dispensaries, brands, and the communities that support them.

To date, we’ve hosted nearly 200 runs in partnership with more than 90 dispensaries across New York City. Every event brings a different energy, and over time, we’ve expanded beyond cannabis by collaborating with local businesses that align with the mission, including Office Hours, Cafe Colmado, Renarts, Frescos Cantina, and others.

At each run, we focus on education, accessibility, and wellness by introducing participants to different forms of cannabis consumption so they can better understand what works for their individual lifestyle and needs. We also create infused ginger shots that promote healthier habits while showcasing how cannabis can naturally integrate into an active, intentional, and wellness-focused lifestyle.“

How were you introduced to cannabis, and what was your ah-ha moment?

“I was introduced to cannabis through sports, specifically handball, which, in many ways, is New York City’s original street sport. In NYC, cannabis culture has always existed on nearly every corner, but especially within the handball courts scattered throughout the city’s parks. The walls blocked the wind, the gates offered privacy, and the atmosphere created the perfect environment to sit, connect, and roll up after games.

What stood out to me immediately was the connection between cannabis and movement. Everything seemed to slow down mentally, yet physically, I still felt sharp, reactive, and completely in sync. I was processing the game at a heightened level while remaining fluid in motion. That was my first real “aha” moment, realizing there was something deeper happening beyond recreation.

What truly connected the dots for me was later learning about the endocannabinoid system through Chef For Higher dinners, which at the time were led by HWMK. Understanding the science behind how cannabis interacts with the body gave context to the experiences I had already felt firsthand through sport, recovery, focus, and overall wellness.”

What does cannabis mean to you within your journey as an athlete, and how has it shaped your approach to performance, recovery, or mindset?

“My approach to cannabis within the wellness space has been truly transformative. Over time, it evolved from something occasional into an intentional part of my everyday lifestyle and rituals. Whether it’s infusing my protein shakes with CFH honey, creating wellness-focused ginger shots, or being mindful of how I consume, cannabis has become a tool that complements recovery, nutrition, and overall balance.”

Can you walk us through a moment where you felt the narrative around cannabis and athletics needed to change — and how you’re contributing to that shift?

“I feel the narrative around cannabis has steadily shifted toward wellness and, more recently, into performance and recovery. More athletes are beginning to recognize it as a safer alternative to prescription painkillers and opioids for managing recovery, while also addressing the mental stress that comes with high-level competition. In my view, cannabis can play a meaningful role in supporting both physical and mental well-being, which is one of the core reasons I started commUNITY Run Club in NYC. The intention behind it is to strengthen the connection between wellness, cannabis, and movement by creating a safe, open space where people can ask questions, learn, experiment with the plant responsibly, and form their own personal relationship with flower and its role in their lifestyle.”

How do you integrate cannabis into your lifestyle?

“One of the biggest ways I integrate cannabis into my lifestyle is through my philosophy, LEMS: Love, Eat, Move, Smoke. It’s rooted in loving the plant and respecting it as something we’re meant to care for, supported by the endocannabinoid system we all share. It also expands into EAT, recognizing that cannabis can be consumed through food and functional formats, not just smoking.”

What are you currently building with commUNITY Run Club?

“CommUNITY Run Club is a space that brings together cannabis, sport, and running, while helping people better understand how to navigate and engage with the plant intentionally. At its core, cannabis is also a business, with real opportunities for education, innovation, and monetization within a rapidly evolving industry. It has long been used as a form of medicine, and athletes in particular rely on recovery tools to support both performance and longevity. Cannabis is part of that broader conversation. For me, it all comes back to knowledge and education, which remains central to our mission at commUNITY Run Club.”

For the next generation of athletes watching you, what message do you want to leave about cannabis, identity, and breaking stigma?

“My ME/ssage for the next generation is to tune out the noise and ignore traditional media. Words such as marijuana and sativa / indica are forms of manipulation by misinformation. The goal is to find your identity in whatever it is that you do. Show and share with the world how cannabis is part of that lifestyle; part of that identity, and that’s ultimately what will continue to end the stigma. The less we fear, the more we become; I know it’s not easy to show this side of us, but then what’s the real side? Stay real; stay true!”

What LEMS is building in New York City is more than a run club; it’s a cultural framework for how cannabis can exist within modern athletic identity. Through movement, education, and community, he’s dismantling outdated narratives and replacing them with lived experience. The plant, once sidelined in conversations around performance, is now being reintroduced as a tool for balance, recovery, and connection. As LEMS and the commmUNITY Run Club continue to grow, it’s clear that the future of athletics isn’t just about how fast you move, but how intentionally you live.