A FAREWELL TO BELMONT SHORE
THE MISSION CONTINUES
To the NALA family, our loyal customers, and everyone who stood beside us:
Today, I announce the coming closure of NALA Health and Recovery in Belmont Shore.
This is not a surrender.
It is the end of one campaign—and the beginning of another. We will officially close our doors on September 30th, 2026.
My name is Victor Melgar, also known as Victhealkemist. I am an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, author of ALKEMY: The Next Generation of Health & Recovery, and the founder of NALA Health and Recovery.
I began this mission because I believed the wellness industry had lost something deeply human.
People were being sold products without education. They were given endless options without direction. They were treated like transactions instead of individuals searching for answers, relief, balance, and a better quality of life.
NALA was created to change that.
Our mission was never simply to sell products. It was to help people stop guessing about their wellness. We brought together cannabinoids, herbs, adaptogens, mushrooms, kava, teas, elixirs, and education to create a more personal approach to health and recovery.
We wanted every person who entered NALA to feel seen, heard, and supported.
Together, we built that place.
We earned Countless 5-star reviews—but those stars do not tell the full story. Behind every review was a conversation, a breakthrough, a friendship, or someone who finally felt that a wellness business had taken the time to listen.
Then the laws changed.
On November 12, 2026, Section 781 of Public Law 119-37—widely known as the 2026 federal hemp ban—is scheduled to take effect.
The federal government is redefining legal hemp and imposing a limit of just 0.4 milligrams of total THC and similarly acting cannabinoids per finished container. That limit is so low that it threatens to eliminate much of the existing hemp wellness market—including many responsibly manufactured, non-intoxicating full-spectrum products containing only naturally occurring trace amounts of THC.
California has also enacted Assembly Bill 8, placing even tighter restrictions on hemp products sold outside the licensed cannabis system.
These laws were presented as a way to remove dangerous intoxicating products, protect children, and close regulatory loopholes. Responsible safeguards are necessary. But this sweeping approach reaches far beyond bad actors. It threatens responsible manufacturers, farmers, independent wellness stores, employees, and the customers who have relied on these products for years.
NALA is not closing because we stopped believing.
Our Belmont Shore store is closing because the battlefield beneath small hemp and wellness businesses has been fundamentally changed. The approaching federal ban, California’s restrictions, shrinking access to compliant products, and growing regulatory burden have made it impossible for us to continue operating this storefront as it was originally built.
But hear me clearly:
THE NALA MISSION IS NOT OVER.
Until the federal restrictions take effect on November 12, 2026, we will continue delivering available NALA products through:
We will continue serving our community for as long as the law allows. We will continue educating. We will continue advocating for responsible plant-based wellness. And we will carry everything we learned in Belmont Shore into the next chapter of NALA.
A storefront can close.
A mission cannot.
To every customer who walked through our doors, trusted our recommendations, tried one of our elixirs, attended an event, read our book, shared our name, or left us a review: you were never merely a customer.
You were part of this movement.
You helped prove that wellness could be personal again.
I will always be proud of what we built together at 4922 E. 2nd Street. I will always remember the conversations, the victories, the challenges, and the lives that passed through these doors.
As we leave Belmont Shore, we do so with our heads held high.
We came here with a mission.
We served with clarity.
We built something real.
And although this location will close, the spirit of NALA marches forward.
This is not farewell forever.
The mission is to be continued....
With strength, purpose, and eternal gratitude,
Victor Melgar
aka
Victhealkemist
Founder, NALA Health and Recovery
Author of ALKEMY: The Next Generation of Health & Recovery
Continue the mission at:
www.nalahealth.com
