As Illinois' fledgling marijuana industry slowly gets underway, some companies have begun hiring in anticipation of opening in the coming months, attracting a diverse set of candidates willing to take a chance on a business with an uncertain future so they can get in on the ground floor.

Take Rick Bower, 58, of downstate Dwight. After working for 31 years at commercial printing giant RR Donnelley, Bower has been hired as the inaugural director of warehousing at PharmaCann, where he will bring his expertise in workflow standardization and quality control to its Dwight and Hillcrest cultivation centers.

CINCINNATI (Jeff Hirsh) -- The group ResponsibleOhio joined with a labor union Monday for an announcement about the planned marijuana farms, should its ballot initiative pass.

ResponsibleOhio says it's collected 700,000 signatures, which is more than twice what it needs to get an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot. If passed, the amendment would legalize ten grow farms around the state, including several in the Tri-State. They'd be owned by investors, who've put up $20 million to finance the ballot campaign. ResponsibleOhio says taxpayers would also benefit with more than half a billion dollars distributed among state governments by 2020.

The "enormous demand" for medical marijuana, which only figures to grow as the population ages, sets the stage for a new multimillion-dollar industry in Maryland that will create hundreds of jobs, according to a leading regional economist.

"This will create a mix of private and public positions, and also make people feel better," said Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive officer of Sage Policy Group, a Baltimore economic and policy consulting firm. "From an economist perspective, none of this sounds troubling."

Utica (WSYR-TV) - We have at least six months before medical marijuana will be legally dispensed in New York, but dozens of business owners are throwing their hats in the ring.

Earlier today, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente took a tour of Brightwaters Farms in Utica.

It is one of the businesses hoping to get one of five state licenses, which will allow the farm to legally grow medical marijuana.

"When you look at what this can do for people in need, for people with medical issues, why wouldn't you support it?" says Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente.

Brightwaters is one of the largest greenhouse operations in the northeast, with 60 acres of land that includes one million feet of greenhouse space.

COLUMBUS, OH – ResponsibleOhio today delivered petition signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office to qualify for the November 2015 ballot.

The Marijuana Legalization Amendment would allow adults 21 and over to buy marijuana and establish a network of 10 authorized growing locations around the state.

ResponsbileOhio says that they have 695,273 signatures on their petitions. They needed about 306,000 to qualify for November’s ballot. Secretary of State Jon Husted makes the final determination as to the validity of the signatures.

Oaksterdam University is not an accredited institution, but you might have been fooled if you went to the Capital Hilton here this past weekend.

More than 100 students took part in a 10-session seminar, part of the cannabis college’s focus on education in regions with recently loosened marijuana laws. During one session on Sunday, an instructor flipped through PowerPoint slides about cannabis-extraction methods and wove organic chemistry into one presentation. Meanwhile, attendees — clad in Oaksterdam sweatshirts, tie-dyed T-shirts advertising the marijuana newspaper High Times, and marijuana-leaf tie-clips — dutifully took notes.

ASBURY PARK – The city’s leadership is supporting a movement to legalize marijuana in New Jersey.

The City Council has agreed to draft a resolution urging state lawmakers to decriminalize use of the drug which advocates say causes little or no harm to people.

The resolution would be a symbolic gesture, supporting efforts by the community group Help Not Handcuffs which has lobbied to stop law enforcement from arresting people for substance use.

Randy Thompson, founder of Help Not Handcuffs, said arrests for marijuana impose criminal records on people– deterring them from jobs and housing– for a minor offense. He also said marijuana enforcement distracts police from more serious crimes. He called on Asbury Park to make it the lowest law enforcement priority.

As dispensaries grow the rise in bud tending jobs also increase, and with that considerable rise comes more people interested in how to become a budtender. Joining the cannabis industry is easier than you think, in fact if you want to become a budtender in a dispensary than this is the article for you, herein is a brief guide on how to get started!

Get Your Medical Card

WASHINGTON — For all the aspiring and current spies, diplomats and F.B.I. agents living in states that have liberalized marijuana laws, the federal government has a stern warning: Put down the bong, throw out the vaporizer and lose the rolling papers.

It may now be legal in Colorado, in Washington State and elsewhere to possess and smoke marijuana, but federal laws outlawing its use — and rules that make it a fireable offense for government workers — have remained rigid. As a result, recruiters for federal agencies are arriving on university campuses in those states with the sobering message that marijuana use will not be tolerated.