New York officially launches marijuana as a form of medical treatment Thursday, becoming the 23rd US state to do so as the taboo surrounding its legalized medicinal use starts to shift.

Under the legislation, five companies are authorized to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes in the state, but only one -- Bloomfield Industries -- has set up headquarters in New York City itself.

From the outside, its premises are an inconspicuous warehouse in an industrial zone of Queens, with shabby walls, boarded up windows and an entrance partially obstructed by concrete slabs.

Surrounded by other warehouses, next to the highway and with no security guard nor police officer in sight, the building is home to a 23,000 square meter plant dedicated to growing marijuana.

AXIM Biotechnologies, a small, Manhattan-based company with ties to the Netherlands, says it has a trump card in its quest to develop a cannabis-based chewing gum to ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

The company says it will be able to price its gum cheaper than a major competitor after securing a "significant" discount on cannabis made available by the Dutch government.

To be sure, AXIM has a long way to go before its Medchew Rx gum - still in development - will be a viable alternative to an under-the-tongue spray developed by GW Pharmaceuticals.

That spray, Sativex, is already approved in 27 countries - though not in the US, where cannabis remains prohibited under federal law.

ALBANY — State officials will formally launch New York’s medical marijuana program on Thursday and at least one city pot dispensary expects to be ready.

“New York State's Medical Marijuana Program is scheduled to launch on January 7, 2016, just 18 months after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act,” Health Department spokesman James Plastiras said in an email to reporters late Monday afternoon.

“More information and details on the program will be released shortly,” Plastiras added.

By Steven Maxwell

Recent scientific studies regarding the use of cannabis (marijuana) and its healing powers are further disproving the government’s biased and inaccurate stance against its medical use. The government refers to marijuana as a “gateway” drug to harder substances and schedules it along side them even though it has proven to be safer than alcohol.

ALBANY -- New York plans to have its medical marijuana program operating in early January.

There’s just one glaring omission: The state Department of Health hasn’t released a list of doctors who are registered to write medical-marijuana prescriptions.

“It’s a real problem,” said Julie Netherland, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group. “We get calls from patients every day wanting to know how they can get a physician to help them, and in the absence of any kind of public list, there’s nothing we can do to assist.”

The health department on Dec. 23 launched its system for severely ill patients to enroll in its medical marijuana program, which will provide the drug in non-smokeable forms.

A New York company is preparing to market what it says is the world’s first kosher-certified marijuana.

The Orthodox Union has certified Vireo Health of New York’s non-smokable medical marijuana products, Vireo announced in a news release Wednesday. Vireo is one of five medical marijuana providers selected to participate in a New York state medical marijuana program that goes into effect next month; none of the others will be certified kosher.

As the company prepares to sell the medical marijuana, it follows two sets of regulations for the sale of its products next month, a state law passed only 18-months ago and an even older edict of Torah.

A New York dispensary will offer kosher certified marijuana starting in January. Vireo Health of New York, one of the five companies permitted to grow the cannabis, has received their certification from the Orthodox Union (OU).

Ari Hoffnug, the CEO of Vireo Health tells Medical Daily that he thinks this is a step in right direction to combat the stigma associated with medical cannabis. “It is our hope that having the OU certification will help to send a message to all faiths and  backgrounds. That if you need to use medical marijuana you shouldn’t feel guilty or shamed,” said Hoffnug.

In July 2014, five companies were awarded licenses by the New York State Health Department to grow and sell marijuana in the state, and in New York City. One of them, a Minneapolis-based company called Vireo Health, which produces “pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-derived medicine,” announced Wednesday that all of its products had received kosher certification from the Orthodox Union.

New York's state Department of Health is now allowing New York-based Americans to gain access to its recently approved medical marijuana program which is set to be launched at the start of next year.

To facilitate and ease the process of registration for eligible enrollees, the local health agency also set up a corresponding online system.

The program came about after the state legislature legalized the establishment of such program but included some important pre-requisites for would-be enrollees such as getting a health department certification from a duly-registered physician before applying for state registry identification card.