Program eyed to train workers for medical cannabis facility

SCHENECTADY — A medical marijuana program could be coming to Schenectady County Community College this fall.

Fiorello Pharmaceuticals has pledged to provide $100,000 to SCCC if it is one of five contractors chosen by the state Health Department to provide marijuana to patients suffering from certain medical conditions.

The New York City-based company would open a facility in Glenville if it gets a license and is looking to launch a medical cannabis certificate program in Schenectady — the first in the nation, according to Fiorello — as part of a job-training partnership with the two-year college. The college may also help train developmentally disabled people to work at the facility.

David Marquez likes representing the underdog. 

With 31 years as a foreclosure defense attorney under his belt, he says he's used to fighting “against the establishment.” But this summer he’s gearing his Long Island practice up for a completely new kind of legal battle. Any day now, the New York State Department of Health will select five companies out of the 43 hopefuls that applied for licenses to grow medical marijuana. That means “38 pissed-off companies” may have a bone to pick with the state. And Marquez wants to be their go-to lawyer.

New York’s medical marijuana program, approved and signed into law in July of 2014, is about to take off, with five out of some 43 applicants about to receive a licence any day now.

The competing companies who have applied for state Health Department licenses were left in the dark during the process, and New Yorkers have very few clues as to who will grow the herb, process it and sell it in a legal/non-smokable form.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was never an overly-enthusiastic proponent of medical marijuana, imposed strict rules and heavy oversight of operations before signing the bill into law.

A Colorado-based marijuana grower looking to enter New York's medical pot market - and open a dispensary in Brooklyn - was flagged by Denver health officials for potentially dangerous levels of pesticide in its plants.

Mindful Medical, which has applied for a license in New York, was one of 11 growers to have holds placed on the use of their plants this spring after inspectors from Denver’s Department of Environmental Health found high pesticide levels, said city spokesman Dan Rowland.

“The city Department of Environmental Health determined that some of the treated plant material could be a health risk,” Rowland said.

VALHALLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Westchester County authorities now say a total of 13 county jail inmates were hospitalized over the weekend after becoming sick from apparently using synthetic marijuana.

The inmates were overcome with the same symptoms, which included vomiting, sudden agitation, hallucinations and going into a catatonic state, officials said. At least two inmates admitted they had ingested the synthetic drug.

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County Executive Rob Astorino responded by ordering a lockdown and top-to-bottom search of the jail overnight.

His 1975 autobiography raised eyebrows, and 40 years later, it still shocks. Now, baseball's all-time partier reflects on a life lived to the limit

Joe Pepitone is in an upbeat mood today. "Everything's good, and that's honest," he confides over the phone to Rolling Stone. "Next time you talk to me, and I'm screaming and yelling at you and don't want to talk to you, you'll know everything's horseshit."

Amid a rise in the use of increasingly potent forms of synthetic marijuana, state officials Friday announced updated regulations intended to curb its dissemination.

Marketed as legal products such as incense, herbal mixtures, or potpourri, synthetic cannabinoids typically consist of plant material coated by chemicals intended to mimic THC, the mood-altering ingredient in marijuana. Producers have skirted state regulations by using chemicals that are not specifically prohibited.

In April of this year, when he announced the recipients of numerous smart growth grants in the Adirondacks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reaffirmed his commitment to invest in a region that needs long-term economic stability.

At that time, I publicly applauded the governor’s actions. In the next several weeks, Gov. Cuomo will have another opportunity to partner with local governments to create significant and meaningful economic activity within the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park.

Soon, the governor will select five businesses to manufacture and distribute medical marijuana in New York. Of the 43 applicants, only one plans to build a greenhouse and manufacturing facility within the blue line of the Adirondack Park in Chester.

In Order to Better Define the Therapeutic Mechanism of Action Using Biochemical, Cell, and Genetic Approaches

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO--(Marketwired - Jul 17, 2015) -  Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTC PINK: CBIS), and a key member of its scientific advisory board, Harold C. Smith, Ph.D., Professor in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Oncology and the Center for RNA Biology at the University of Rochester, School of Dentistry and Medicine, have prepared the blueprint for establishing basic science exploration and explanation for medicinal benefits associated with cannabinoid products. The goal will be evaluate, through scientific proven methods, cellular responses to cannabinoids that can be correlated and eventually directly ascribed as the 'drug-targets'.

My Interview with Steve Mister, President of the Council for Responsible Nutrition

Herbs Under the Magnifying Glass