New Yorkers may be toking more brazenly than ever before, but the NYPD says marijuana arrests are the lowest they've been in almost two decades.

In 2015, arrests for sale, felony possession, and low-level criminal possession of marijuana in New York city were down by 11,000 — for a total of just under 22,000. "We have not seen this low level of marijuana arrests in New York City since 1997," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Dermot Shea during a press conference on the city's overall reduction in crime. "That's a 33-percent reduction, that's on top of the big reduction last year."

Manhattan's first and only medical marijuana dispensary is like a fortress. To enter the building, located on 14th Street near the 3rd Avenue subway station, patients have to pass through two security systems before they even encounter another human. First, they flash their medical marijuana card in front of a camera. If everything looks in order, the first set of doors opens to a vestibule and then closes behind them. There, they hold their cards under an electronic scanner. If there's a problem, guards — many of them ex-cops — will escort them from the premises.

Nicholas Vita and Michael Abbott aren’t just opening New York City’s first medical marijuana dispensary, they are trying to steer the industry to a more data-focused way of matching patients with the strains of medical marijuana to help their specific conditions.

Located near Union Square in New York City, Columbia Care is collaborating with its famous neighbor, Mount Sinai Hospital, analyzing de-identified patient registry data that Columbia Care has collected from more than 100,000 interactions with patients in the states where it operates.   While the first step is a retrospective analysis of this data, in time they hope to work together on clinical studies

Just in time for the legalization of medical marijuana to take effect in New York, one cannabis distributor has gotten Kosher status for its products.  

In New York, the Orthodox Union, an organization that checks and certifies edible products to see if religious standards are met in their preparation, announced it will certify products from Vireo Health. Based in Minneapolis, MN, the company has a facility in Upstate New York.  

Vireo is one of five providers of cannabis products certified to operate in New York’s programs.   Medical marijuana is now available in the state. The change was ushered with a simple ribbon cutting Thursday morning.  

New York City's first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Manhattan today at 212 East 14th Street, though it's unclear when it will actually start serving patients, as none had an appointment today. Thus far there are 150 doctors registered to provide patient certification in the state's medical marijuana program, and 51 patients have been certified, according to the Department of Health. There's no word yet on how many of those doctors or patients are in the New York City area.

Ryan Smith, co-founder of LeafLink, is the first member of the cannabis industry to make annual list of young leaders.

Forbes named Ryan Smith, CEO and co-founder of Leaflink, one of its “30 Under 30” for Enterprise Tech on Monday.  The 25 year old is the first cannabis-focused entrepreneur to make the publication’s annual list, which names the “brightest young entrepreneurs, leaders, [and] stars”.

New York will roll out its medical marijuana program Thursday when dispensaries open, dispersed throughout the state from New York City to Albany. Eight dispensaries are slated to launch this week.

New York will roll out its medical marijuana program Thursday when dispensaries open, dispersed throughout the state from New York City to Albany. Eight dispensaries are slated to launch this week.