A medical marijuana growing room in an unspecified location outside New York.(Photo: Photo provided by Butler Evergreen)

Hoping to plant a seed and grow a thriving business in western New York, at least three Rochester-area companies plan to seek state approval to grow, process and dispense medical marijuana.

Under the state law that will allow physicians to prescribe marijuana-based medicine to treat select illnesses beginning in January, five companies are being chosen to provide that medication. Applications are being taken through June 5.

When retailers open state-approved medical marijuana shops in Illinois later this year, they will face a distinct disadvantage in luring prospective patients across their thresholds: Marijuana will always be cheaper on the black market.

So what incentives might entice those patients?

Think cannabis-infused premium chocolate. Well-lit display cases that showcase buds as if they were jewelry. Informed employees who can guide each patient to the best strain for their needs.

Dispensary owners in Illinois are thinking, too, about Tupperware-style education parties, spa-like interior design and good old-fashioned customer service — all ways to beat out their fiercest competitors: underground dealers.

Four years ago Cassandra Farrington couldn’t find any venue in the country that would host her idea for a conference on the business of marijuana. This week, she hired out the Hilton Chicago, one of the city’s most famous hotels and one that has accommodated every US president since it opened in 1927.

The owner of a pizzeria in Israel has been arrested for lacing a pizza ordered by two policemen with “Mr. Nice Guy,” a synthetic marijuana. Both men became ill and were hospitalized following their meal.

"I knew the pizza was for the cops, but the guy I spoke with sounded cool on the phone and told me to put whatever I wanted on it," the owner of the Holon pizzeria told police, as reported by Walla website. "So, instead of oregano, I sprinkled Nice Guy."

After eating the pizza, the two men were taken to Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital with symptoms of vomiting, body tremors and dizziness. Tests revealed they had ingested the drug.

By Kerry Blasdel

Finding a suitable location is often one of the biggest hurdles startup cannabis businesses face. The headache doesn’t end once you sign a lease, though.

Dispensaries and cultivation sites must navigate a minefield of real estate challenges that can change the playing field overnight and force owners to scout out a new location quickly.

The result: You have to go through the maddeningly complex and surprisingly time-consuming process of finding real estate all over again.

CHICAGO – With federal legalization efforts moving forward, pot entrepreneurs might want to focus on the recreational side of the business rather than the medical side, as major pharmaceutical companies are poised to jump in there. That's the future, according to Adam Bierman, managing partner of MedMen, a marijuana consulting firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Bierman spoke at this week's Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Chicago.

Our drug laws are based on denial, and they have failed, says Brendan O'Connor. If we want to protect our kids we should focus on harm-reduction

The war on drugs is being lost, one incarcerated or dead young person at a time. Ana Hick was the latest victim, last Sunday. Ana's 19th birthday was a funeral. She was dead because she did what millions of kids before her did, and what millions more will do. She played Russian roulette with pills she bought from a criminal on the street. And she died because our drugs laws do not protect our children, or take into account human nature.

Raw hemp seeds are one of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet. While it is related to the cannabis plant, hemp seeds are not psychoactive and are legal to consume in most parts of the world. The nutritional profile for hemp seeds includes:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Members of a church went to downtown Providence to show it is their constitutional right to use cannabis.

Services are normally held at the home of the church’s leader and former Rhode Island Gubernatorial candidate Anne Armstrong, but the group recently decided to pray publicly at the Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence. Earlier this week, three members were cited for possessing a controlled substance.

Armstrong says, “This is a very important constitutional issue and if it can’t be decided here. I don’t think there is any hope for America frankly.”

The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) posted online a dashboard-style report that includes snapshots of frequently requested marijuana data. The report includes: