A hospital in the North Shore-L.I.J. system, which applied for a state medical marijuana license with a Colorado provider. By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS June 5, 2015

New York’s new medical marijuana program has drawn the interest of several major hospitals, which have formed alliances with aspiring growers to try to make the drug accessible to their patients.

State health officials plan to let the public know early next week which companies, nonprofits or other entities bid for licenses to grow and distribute medical marijuana.

Before Friday’s application deadline closed, several bidders had announced proposals, including some now running similar programs in other states. New York’s health department is expected to grant up to five licenses this summer, with each recipient allowed to establish up to four dispensaries.

It’s a typical Wednesday evening. After a long run, Andrew*, who works in digital media in New York City, is following his standard post-run routine. Like most runners, he’ll quickly cool down, stretch, drink water, and maybe grab a post-workout snack. Unlike most runners, he’ll also smoke pot.

The avid runner and cyclist, whose racing résumé includes theUmstead 100 Ultra, typically lights up immediately before his athletic activities and usually within an hour or two post-sweat session.

In the past two years Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come a long way in amending his once unsupportive views about medical marijuana, but it is not far enough.

New York has become the 23rd state to legalize medical marijuana in some form, and this should help those New Yorkers suffering from cancer, glaucoma and other serious illnesses. But if the program works as intended, it should be expanded.

Friday was the deadline for businesses to apply for only five licenses that will be granted to manufacture and dispense the drug statewide.

AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) - Dent Neurologic Institute (DNI) in Amherst is partnering with a Lewiston business to become a clinical research center for the use of medical marijuana.

Dent and Herbal Agriculture (HA) will be working together to develop treatment and protocol for treating neurological disorders with marijuana.

AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Friday 4 p.m. deadline has now passed for companies that want one of five medical marijuana grower licenses in New York State.

2 On Your Side talked with two groups -- both headed up by physicians -- who submitted their applications to the New York State Department of Health.

Dr. Gregory Daniel and nearly 30 other physicians are part of Alternative Medicine Associates, LLC. They turned in a 66,000-page application.

"It's very restrictive, very laborious, but we nevertheless struggled mightily, recognizing that, as physicians, we have a duty to the patients that we serve," Dr. Daniel said.

ALBANY — Prospective medical marijuana companies must submit by Friday their applications for one of five state licenses to grow and sell the drug.

The close of the application period moves the state one step closer to getting its new medical marijuana program off the ground by the January target date. Licenses are expected to be doled out later this summer.

Dozens of companies are expected to file applications with the state.

On Thursday, Empire State Health Solutions, which wants to establish its growing operating in Perth, Fulton County, dropped off its roughly 5,800-page application a day early.

Three other companies have publicly expressed interest in establishing growing operations or dispensaries in the Capital Region.

At least four Western New York groups are seeking permission to grow, process and dispense medical marijuana in New York State.

They include a pair of Cheektowaga eye surgeons, an Amherst dentist, a Niagara County tomato grower and a medical entrepreneur who has partnered with the founder of the Tanning Bed chain.

They’re among the 100 to 350 groups, if not more, expected to apply for the right to become medical marijuana providers, according to those who follow the industry. They face a Friday deadline to submit applications to the state Department of Health.

Daniel J. Humiston, founder of Tanning Bed, said the group he helped form, Alternative Medicine Associates, on Tuesday turned in “thousands and thousands” of pages in 10 banker boxes.

A Long Island company vying for a state license to distribute medical marijuana has leased space in Downtown Brooklyn, Crain's first reported Thursday.

PalliaTech Inc., a producer of marijuana-based pain medications, is looking to move into the second floor of 425 Fulton St., between Pearl and Jay Streets, where it will take up 3,000 square feet of space.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Medical marijuana dispensaries may be coming to Utica and Rochester.

A company that has applied to the state for a medical marijuana license announced today it will open dispensaries in those cities as well as Newburgh and Brooklyn if it gets a license.

PalliaTech, a Long Island based company, said the four proposed dispensaries will provide access to medical marijuana for patients who live in 52 of the state's 62 counties.