Beleaf Cannabis Dispensary Opens Second Long Island Location in Medford
Beleaf opened its Medford dispensary more than a year after getting its state license, with owners and town officials offering conflicting accounts of why it took so long.
Beleaf's new dispensary at 262 Middle Island Road in Medford opened Friday, more than a year after the company obtained its state retail license, making it the fourth cannabis shop now operating in the Town of Brookhaven and the company's second Long Island location after its Calverton store debuted in 2024.
Co-owner Joseph Martin acknowledged a mix of relief and frustration at the opening. "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," he said.
The source of that delay is disputed. Beleaf's co-owners attributed the lag to the Town of Brookhaven's drawn-out permitting process, while a town official said the owners themselves took time to apply for a key permit. Garrett L. Gray, an attorney at Weber Law Group who represented Beleaf before the town, said the company received planning board site approval in June 2025 and submitted its building permit application in October of that year.
The Medford opening lands in the middle of a broader friction between Long Island's growing cannabis industry and local governments. Roughly 18 dispensaries are now operating across Long Island as part of the state's billion-dollar legal market, according to state data. Just last month, Brookhaven, Riverhead and Southampton filed a lawsuit against state marijuana regulators, seeking greater local control over where retailers can set up shop. All three towns, along with Babylon, had opted into New York's legal retail sales program after the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2021.
The Medford site sits just off Route 112 and minutes from the Long Island Expressway at Exit 64, a position Beleaf's marketing describes as closing a "geographic gap" for Central Suffolk County customers who previously had to travel west to Farmingdale or east to Riverhead to reach a licensed dispensary. The company is promoting the location as a commuter-friendly stop, with curbside and quick pickup options aimed at residents returning to communities like Farmingville and Patchogue.
Beleaf can be reached at (631) 846-1035. Its Calverton location remains open at 4462 Middle Country Road.
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