BELLMAWR, N.J. (AP) - Workers are weighing and stuffing cannabis in bags as part of the final preparations before southern New Jersey’s newest medical marijuana dispensary opens its doors Monday.

More than 100 patients have selected Compassionate Sciences Alternative Treatment Center ahead of the Bellmawr facility’s opening next week.

The dispensary is prepared to serve 1,800 patients purchasing an ounce, general manager Michael Nelson said. Eventually, patients will be able to choose from two dozen medical marijuana strains.

When Oregon begins the first legal sales of recreational marijuana on Oct. 1, I'll be thinking about my Dad. He's a major reason I became a state lawmaker and have been helping implement Oregon's new marijuana law.

During the 1980s recession, Dad stopped taking a salary at the family rock crushing business. It was the only way he and my uncles could keep M.C. Lininger and Sons afloat. Mom warned that if the business closed, we might have to leave the Rogue Valley, where our family has lived for generations. Southern Oregon's economy was withering, and in many cases, the jobs never came back.

PERRYVILLE — A Colorado-based company has started the hiring process for its Maryland medical marijuana operations, which could provide as many as 100 new jobs in Cecil County, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The most successful investor of the 20th century, Warren Buffet, knows a thing or two about career choices. “There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. I think you are out of your mind to keep taking jobs that you don’t like because you think it will look good on your résumé.”

A number of federal employees with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have failed drug tests over the past five years, only to receive short suspensions or other minor reprimands,newly released documents reveal.

Earlier this week, in a crowded meeting room in central London, the United Patients Alliance (UPA) convened a discussion about medical cannabis. The UPA is a group of volunteers from around the United Kingdom, all of who suffer from debilitating ailments that could be alleviated with cannabis use. The discussion involved individuals emotively describing the harrowing experiences that they had endured with their illnesses, their anger at being prevented from legally accessing their medicine, and their hope for policy reform.

Although the cannabis industry is expanding, the large bulk of cannabis-related companies are still small companies employing anywhere from a handful of workers to a couple lots.

So hiring– and retaining– the best staff members is absolutely critical. Each employee plays a hugely important function in the success of the business, unlike at huge companies where workers who aren’t an excellent fit can get by.

With that as the background, Marijuana Business Daily spoke with 3 staffing professionals that deal with the marijuana industry to obtain some tips on the best ways to work with and keep fantastic workers.

Do not Await Talent to Come to You

A labor union is defined as “an organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members’ interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions.”

Cannabis Workers Rising (CWR) is a wing of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) involved in the cannabis industry across six states and the District of Columbia. Their website explains that the CWR is primarily involved with dispensaries, coffee shops, bakeries, patient identification centers, hydroponics stores, and growing and training facilities. Some ganjaprenuers in Washington State are now turning to the CWR to help legitimize this once-illegal sector of our economy.

Even though legal medical marijuana is used by at least 1.1 million people in the U.S., it's still uncharted territory for many employers, and company policies often lag behind changes in state law.

Here are some responses you might encounter from top brass when you break the news.

Montevideo |

Researchers at the University of the Republic (Udelar) of Uruguay are studying the medicinal properties of cannabis and preparing the inclusion of a specific discipline on the subject to be integrated into the curriculum of the medical course starting next year.

This team looks to see the benefits of the components of marijuana in treating pain, nausea and vomiting, epilepsy, Parkinson's, lack of appetite, anorexia caused by chemotherapy or in patients with HIV, and other diseases and symptoms in addition to finding possible hexes.