A Peekskill smoke shop claims that New York has illegally refused to issue it a license to sell cannabis products.
Papi’s Secret Stash accused the Office of Cannabis Management of violating constitutional due process rights, in a petition filed on July 31 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“Papi’s at all times did comply with regulations, ordinances and laws,” the petition states, and the license denial was “arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of discretion.”
The Main Street shop is owned by Eric Sanchez and offers smoking and cannabis accessories, according to the petition. In 2023, Sanchez graduated from the state’s Cannabis Compliance Training and Mentorship program. Then he applied for a microbusiness cannabis license.
The Office of Cannabis Management approved the license in February 2024, the petition states, and Papi’s paid the $4,500 license fee.
But a week later, the state notified Papi’s that the license was incorrectly approved due to an oversight. The action was not a denial and the application was still being processed, the state said in emails. Sanchez was urged to stay in touch.
After months of silence, in June 2024, Papi’s petitioned Westchester Supreme Court to compel the state to issue a license.
This past April, the state formally denied Papi’s application for a license, alleging a “history of giving away or selling cannabis or cannabis products in an unlicensed and unauthorized manner.”
Papi’s denies the findings and says that Sanchez and the shop have never been found guilty of violating local or state rules or laws.
The state’s action was “merely a sweeping rationale,” Papi’s argues, that is tantamount to a pretext to deny the license,” in part to thwart the still pending 2024 lawsuit.
Now Papi’s is asking the court to declare that it has been deprived of property without due process of law.
On April 7, four days after the state formally rejected Papi’s license application, Westchester Supreme Court Justice George Fufidio dismissed Papi’s original case. The 2024 petition was not “ripe for review,” he said, because it was filed before the state made a final, binding determination.
Now that the state has formally denied the license, Papi’s says, it is asking the court again to intervene.
Taylor Randi, press secretary for the Office of Cannabis Management, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Papi’s is represented by Tarrytown attorney Mark J. Weinstein.
