Say for example that the strain of pot you really favor is Ghost Train Haze. It’s got the intensity you’re looking for. You like its citrus scent, too. But how can you know that you’re really getting the legit stuff? In an industry that’s only partly legal and barely regulated, it could be easy for growers to sell you a lesser product and dress it up like the strain you love.

Eddie Miller sees opportunity there. As a cofounder of Invest In Cannabis, he’s a major stakeholder in a company that’s addressing that problem, All Strains. “We’re collecting big data for cannabis,” he said during a phone call with the Observer. The company is collecting data to insure that what’s sold as Ghost Train Haze in one state is the same strain as what’s sold under that name in another.

SAN DIEGO, Aug.

Roughly one year after New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo passed the Compassionate Care Act—which will allow doctors to recommend and prescribe medicinal marijuana for certain illnesses starting in 2016—New York State has finally granted its first medical marijuana licenses. Last Friday, a total of five organizations were selected to produce and distribute medical marijuana across the state. The companies that were selected include Bloomsfield Industries Inc., Columbia Care NY LLC, Empire State Health Solutions, Etain LLC, and PharmaCann LLC. Of these five, Etain and Empire State Health Solutions will operate dispensaries in Westchester County. The state plans to implement the program and begin distribution by January 2016.

€œWhen we begin to build a business of our own in any market, we always go back to our counterparties and say this is how we do it,” said Vita. But he said he also asks the institutions three questions: What can his company do better? How can his company do it better? And what are the concerns the institution has about the expansion? As part of the New York state license awarded Friday, the company plans to open a medical marijuana farm in Melrose, N.Y. as well as three other dispensaries around the state.

Albany County is suddenly set to become an epicenter of New York's budding medical marijuana industry.

On Friday, the state Department of Health granted five licenses to companies that will be allowed to grow and sell medicinal marijuana in New York. Each company is allowed to open four dispensaries — for a total of 20 statewide — and Albany County landed three of them.

Onondaga County also landed three. By contrast, the five boroughs of New York City will get a total of four dispensaries.

The dispensaries are expected to be in Albany's warehouse district, and in the towns of Colonie and Guilderland.

In addition, two manufacturing facilities where the product will be produced will be sited in the greater Capital Region, in Fulton and Warren counties.

Medical marijuana is expected to become available in New York in January, 2016. Here are five things to know about the program:

Only the sickest patients will get medical pot. Medicare marijuana use will be restricted to patients with these 10 conditions: cancer, HIV or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury with spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, and Huntington's disease.

The state Department of Health issued scores that ranged from 97 to 45 for the 43 medical-marijuana applicants that sought one of five licenses to grow and dispense the drug.

The highest on a scale of 1 to 100 was PharmaCann LLC, which would be based in Orange County for growing and have dispensaries in Erie, Onondaga, Albany and Bronx counties.

All five winners had scores that exceeded 90, while several others narrowly missed.

Ross John Enterprises, which proposed a facility in western New York, received the lowest score of 43.

The health department said it weighed a number of criteria in making the selections.

Two Medical Marijuana Licenses Granted In Hudson Valley  August 2, 2015    Health    No comments    

New York State has announced the five companies who will be licenses to grow and manufacture medical marijuana, and none are in Western New York.

The state health department in April posted an online application for medical marijuana growing licenses, and forty-three companies applied.

New York’s medical marijuana law is stricter than those in surrounding states.

The building in Hunts Point in the South Bronx is set to be the site of one of New York City’s first medical marijuana dispensaries. By JOSHUA JAMERSON August 1, 2015

The Hunts Point neighborhood in the South Bronx has struggled to clean up its act for years. Prostitution is still a problem, but it is far less prevalent, residents say, than it once was.

A couple of years ago, community leaders and residents helped derail the opening of a strip club. The neighborhood was once home to several strip clubs and now it has none.

Waiting for medicine

•July 2014: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs the Compassionate Care Act into law, making New York the 23rd state to legalize medical marijuana.

•December 2014: Draft regulations for medical marijuana released. They essentially control how patients access the drug, as well as how organizations grow and sell the drug.

•April 2015: Final medical marijuana regulations released. make any substantive changes to the draft regulations despite the comments.