When Dana Beal was locked up in Nebraska and Wisconsin a few years back, facing hard time after being busted transporting hundreds of pounds of marijuana, friends and allies from across the world flew to the Midwest to speak on his behalf. 

These days, all the backup Beal, 68, who ended up serving about three years, says he needs is five or six people to join his bi-weekly pickets outside of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in lower Manhattan. 

PARAMUS N.J. May 29 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A six-hour certification program on "How to Open a Cannabis Business" is being presented at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition (CWCBExpo) at the Javits Center in New York NY.Taking place on Wednesday June 17th this workshop is part of a dedicated day of education at the leading event on the East Coast for the legalized and medical marijuana industry.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The 10-year-old girl stood smiling at the governor's side as he signed a medical marijuana bill into law last July.

Amanda Houser was so excited for the event, her mother said, her health problems — a rare form of epilepsy — were nearly forgotten for the day. And the photo from the New York City event of Amanda bashfully holding her cheeks next to Gov. Andrew Cuomo is one of the more memorable images from his time in office.

But the good feelings from the event have gradually subsided, and ill patients are increasingly frustrated that, nearly a year later, they still can't access medical marijuana in New York.

ALBANY - The state's former chief of homeland security has a new job safeguarding marijuana shipments, the Daily News has learned.

Michael Balboni, who served as the top homeland security official of former governors Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson, has been hired as a security consultant for pot grower Empire State Compassionate Care.

The company is one of several looking to obtain a license to grow and distribute medical marijuana in New York.

“What we are doing is putting all the gates, guards, guns and gadgets in place to ensure that there is seed to sale and no diversion of product,” Balboni told the News.

Time is quickly running out for those looking to get their medical marijuana licenses.

Getting a medical marijuana license is going to be very competitive since only five will be approved.

Each of the five applicants will be limited to four dispensaries each.

Dispensaries must be located in multiple counties across the state, but it comes with several more challenges. Even if a business is approved and licensed, it will have to find a location and get local approval before building the facility.

Etain is just one of the many companies who is looking to grow in Chester, but wants to dispense in Queensbury, and now, Albany could be next on their list.

As New York nears awarding licenses to the companies who will grow and distribute the medical marijuana, critics are concerned the system won't be in place by the state's expected Jan. 1 target.

ALBANY - The 10-year-old girl stood smiling at the governor's side as he signed a medical marijuana bill into law last July.

Amanda Houser was so excited for the event, her mother said, her health problems -- a rare form of epilepsy -- were nearly forgotten for the day. And the photo from the New York City event of Amanda bashfully holding her cheeks next to Gov. Andrew Cuomo is one of the more memorable images from his time in office.

A medical marijuana growing room in an unspecified location outside New York.(Photo: Photo provided by Butler Evergreen)

Hoping to plant a seed and grow a thriving business in western New York, at least three Rochester-area companies plan to seek state approval to grow, process and dispense medical marijuana.

Under the state law that will allow physicians to prescribe marijuana-based medicine to treat select illnesses beginning in January, five companies are being chosen to provide that medication. Applications are being taken through June 5.

Buildings that once housed thousands of juvenile offenders in rural Perth may soon have scores of new tenants kept under lock and key: marijuana plants.

Empire State Health Solutions officially announced Thursday its plans to locate a medical marijuana production facility in the small Fulton County town at the Tryon Technology Park, formerly a juvenile detention center. Those plans are contingent on the company winning one of five licenses to grow and distribute the drug that the state will dole out later this summer.

The company's top officials are hoping a science-first focus will be a major selling point that helps the Capital Region score a facility they say has the potential for upward of 100 jobs when it's fully operational.

Warning: Video contains profane language

Given his band’s reputation for raucous behavior on and off the stage, one might be surprised that the lead singer of iconic rock band The Who has an aversion to marijuana smoke — even when he sniffs it out at shows.

Sure enough, Roger Daltrey halted Wednesday night’s concert in Long Island, New York, and threatened to end the proceedings because of how much pot smoke was wafting up to the stage.

An unemployed chef came up with a recipe to make some cash, baking marijuana-laced cookies and then using the Internet for promotion and his own version of the fast-food industry’s drive-thru window for distribution.

Sebastian P. Kujawa made a habit of leaving his Brinton Street house in North Buffalo with a fresh batch of cookies and crossing through Minnesota Linear Park, an old right of way, to the dead end of Nicholson Street and wait for customers to drive up and purchase their orders, Buffalo police said.

Neighbors watched these nocturnal transactions, a man leaping out of the bushes with a package in hand and darting up to cars that had just parked. It was an unnerving sight.

What the heck was going on?