Southampton pot shop vows to open this week — daring officials to shut it down

A pot shop promising “Michelin standard” products in tony Southampton says it will finally open its doors this week after months of red tape and legal wrangling — daring local officials to try to shut it down.

Brown Budda — one of the first dispensaries to be licensed in the state and the first to be approved on Long Island in 2022 — vowed to open its doors Wednesday with or without final approval from Southampton after state regulators voided the town’s restrictive cannabis laws as illegal.

“We are very confident we have the weight of the law in our favor,” said Brown Budda lawyer Christian Killoran in a statement. 

Company founder and CEO Marquis Hayes, hailing the shop’s products as akin to the finest haute cuisine offered at Michelin-starred restaurants, added, “On November 12, Brown Budda New York rolls out the green carpet to a Michelin standard of cannabis, premium quality, real intention, and respect for the plant.”

Killoran revealed that the shop passed a state inspection at the end of last month and got the green light from New York’s Office of Cannabis Management last week to open and begin offering adult-use cannabis products.

Southampton officials meanwhile insist the dispensary still lacks the proper local permits, and without them, could face further legal action that would send them back to court if it dares to open its doors.

In September, Southampton issued Brown Budda a special-use permit that would have allowed the storefront to open. But it required the business to build a sidewalk in front of its property — an added expense the dispensary’s lawyer called “unnecessary” and “punitive.”

Killoran has accused Southampton of costing the business millions of dollars in losses while “weaponizing” local zoning laws and adding hurdles to stall the state-approved shop.

In October, the state’s Cannabis Control Board sided with the shop by voiding Southampton’s local cannabis code entirely, ruling it was “unreasonably impracticable” and illegal under state law.

The unanimous ruling gutted the town’s restrictions and delivered what Killoran called “a resounding rebuke” to local officials who he said deliberately crafted laws to keep legal cannabis out of Southampton.

Since the ruling, Brown Budda opened for curbside pickup but is now planning to fully unlock the store for walk-in customers. 

In a letter to the town, Killoran said he’s repeatedly urged officials to drop the special-use permit requirement and accused Southampton of “wrongfully” using permit laws to stall his clients’ business, costing Brown Budda millions of dollars in losses and leaving them no choice but to “circumvent the town’s abject intransigence.” 

Town Attorney James Burke said that if the dispensary follows through on its promise and opens without the proper permits, Southampton may be forced to take the business back to court.