SENECA, NY -- There's a push to get the medical marijuana industry up and running on Indian territories. Leaders of the National Tribal Cannabis Association expect to see the industry in full swing on some reservations within the next year.

Former president of the Seneca Nation, Robert Porter, helped organize meetings that about 75 tribal leaders from across the country have attended.

Last week Porter met with tribes within the Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan region.

Porter say most tribes are showing interest in the medical marijuana industry and regulations are starting to be drafted.

Porter said, "I don't see many leaders talk about adult recreational use at this time."

With New York State beginning to accept applications for medical marijuana providers last week, criticism of the hyper-strict program negotiated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been plentiful. Hinged on concerns about arbitrary regulations and insufficient patient access, advocates for medical marijuana access worry the program will be too small and restrictive to be effective.

A new clinic promising to help patients get signed up for Minnesota's medical marijuana program has been suspended by the state, a potential blow to hopeful patients and a New York company seeking to connect them with willing doctors.

The Minnesota Certification Clinic in Bloomington billed itself as a solution for residents struggling to get a physicians' sign-off to obtain medical marijuana. But the clinic informed would-be patients Tuesday in an email obtained by The Associated Press that it was canceling all appointments for certification. It cited a Department of Health decision last week to suspend its accounts with the state.

One week in, more than 100 health providers have signed up to certify patients for medical cannabis.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 54 out of 104 health professionals who applied, including doctors, got the green light from the state to certify patients to receive medical marijuana for treatment of a qualifying condition, such as epilepsy or cancer.

It is unclear why 50 percent of the applicants haven't been certified.

Manny Munson-Regala, assistant commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Health, said it may take time to verify practitioners' credentials.

"It's probably a mix of different things," he said. "We want to ensure that they in fact have one of the appropriate licenses."

A survey conducted last week by the Minnesota Medical Association is causing angst among a large number of patients who were hoping to take advantage of the state’s long-awaited, though cumbersome, medical marijuana program.

Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center will let their physicians decide whether they want to certify their Minnesota patients so they can receive medical marijuana.

Beginning July 1, non-smokable medical marijuana becomes legal in the state. In order to access it, patients must have one of nine qualifying conditions, which include cancer, multiple sclerosis and terminal illness. But before patients are eligible to receive medical marijuana in pill, liquid or oil form, they must first be certified as having one of the qualified conditions by a physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse.

Mayo Clinic spokesman Karl Oestreich said in a statement the clinic has developed a policy for its health-care providers.

Kathleen and Rick Blake lost their 8-year-old son Michael to leukemia in 1988, four years after his diagnosis.

Last year, their family was again struck by cancer when doctors diagnosed their daughter Jessica with glioblastoma multiforme, a brain tumor.

Determined to help Jessica, the Blakes want her to start taking medical cannabis in July, when qualified patients will be able to legally use marijuana for the first time. "We're looking for hope, because conventional medicine has not given us any," Rick Blake said.

But even though medical marijuana use is now legal in Minnesota and the state Department of Health has started registering the thousands of patients who will be eligible to use it, doctors are wary of signing up patients.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — We expect to get new numbers Monday from the state on medical marijuana registrations.

In just 23 days, Minnesota patients will be able to get medical marijuana in the form of capsules and oils to treat certain medical conditions. But registration has gotten off to a very slow start.

So far, only five patients and 30 doctors have signed up for the program. A survey of Minnesota doctors finds only nine percent plan to take part in the program. About 68 percent say they will not, and the rest are undecided.

A New York company is putting down roots in Minnesota by building up a network of doctors and clinics to put patients in line for medical marijuana — a business model that state officials had hoped to avoid.

MarijuanaDoctors.com is coordinating with doctors in Minnesota to set up clinics designed to give patients the sign-off required to register with the state to buy the new medicine. The first clinic, in Bloomington, filed its business registration forms this week. The company's chief operating officer, John Nicolazzo, said three others will get started on Monday, with a dozen total planned.

A new survey finds Minnesota doctors in no rush to sign their patients up for medical marijuana.

Two-thirds of the doctors who responded to a Minnesota Medical Association survey said they were not planning to participate in the state’s medical cannabis registry. Medical marijuana will be legal — in limited form — in Minnesota on July 1, but to participate in the program, patients must be certified by a doctor or other medical professional to prove they have one of nine qualifying conditions.