Beleaf cannabis dispensary opens in Medford after yearlong delay

More than a year after obtaining a state license, Beleaf has opened its first cannabis dispensary in the Town of Brookhaven.

"It feels great [to be open] but it's also a little frustrating because quite a few stores have been able to get open prior to us," co-owner Joseph Martin said. The Medford store opened Friday.

The delayed opening cost potential revenue and tens of thousands of dollars in rent, Martin said.

The dispensary’s opening should benefit the town's tax revenue, said Hugo Rivas, vice president and co-founder of Long Island Cannabis Coalition. He also hoped it will help “normalize cannabis” on Long Island, and reduce the stigma associated with the now-legal drug.

The store, at 262 Middle Island Rd. in Medford, is the company's second dispensary on Long Island. Beleaf opened on Middle Country Road in Calverton in 2024. There are now four cannabis retail shops in Brookhaven, according to a state list.

Co-owners of the dispensary attributed the Medford shop's delay to the town's drawn-out permitting process. But a town official said the owners took time to apply for a key permit.

The Medford store's opening comes as Long Island's cannabis industry is growing, despite ongoing zoning disputes over where dispensaries can open and an often difficult approval process. Roughly 18 cannabis stores are open on Long Island as part of the state's billion-dollar market, according to state data.

The time it takes to open a cannabis shop varies by the store and town where they are located.

Canna Blooms, also in Brookhaven Town, received a special permit in June nd opened about six months later, Newsday reported. Meanwhile, Long Island Cannabis Club, in Babylon Town, went through a yearlong process to obtain a building permit before opening at the end of 2024.

Beleaf employs 65 staff members at its three stores, which include a dispensary in Brooklyn. The Medford store employs 15 to 20 people, Martin said.

Long time coming

New York’s Cannabis Control Board approved a retail cannabis license for the Medford store in October 2024, Newsday reported.

At the time, co-owners Martin, Michael Reda and Keith Titmus hoped to open the store in early 2025.

Martin and Reda blamed the delays on the Town of Brookhaven, which they say hampered the process by requiring additional work, including upgrading the building's drainage, which forced them to redo the parking lot. Martin estimated the parking lot cost $250,000 out of a total of $750,000 in renovations to the building and site.

Town Supervisor Dan Panico pushed back, saying the process went quickly, but that Beleaf delayed in applying for a building permit until October.

“A lot of the time it’s really incumbent on the applicant and the representatives to get everything that’s necessary," Panico said.

Garrett L. Gray, an attorney at Weber Law Group representing Beleaf before the town, said Beleaf got its site approved by the town planning board in June and applied for a building permit in October. 

New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, and four towns — Brookhaven, Babylon, Southampton and Riverhead — opted into the state’s legal retail sales program. Just last month, Brookhaven, Riverhead and Southampton filed a lawsuit against state marijuana regulators to get control over where retailers can open, Newsday reported.

The suit came after state regulators found that Riverhead and Southampton’s cannabis rules were “unreasonably impracticable” and blocked under state law. Several licensees in those towns were prevented from opening due to strict rules requiring retailers to open a certain distance away from schools and other areas.