Losing a child is the worst nightmare any parent could imagine, a nightmare that is much harder to bear when you know that there may have been something you could have done to prevent such an awful tragedy. As unimaginable as this scenario is for most parents, preventable deaths are happening at an alarming rate as politicians argue about whether or not marijuana is medicine (we did some checking, it is). At this crucial time in history, a moment when the science on medical marijuana has become crystal clear, our government leaders can no longer afford to move slowly on reform measures. The lives of our children depend on this.

As parents of disabled and deceased children told heart-wrenching stories Monday morning, Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand had to stop and compose herself.

The emotional pain the families of brain-impaired children recounted would not be necessary, she told a news conference at the Dent Neurological Institute in Amherst, if medical marijuana were available like other regular prescription drugs. But because the federal government still looks upon the substance as a harmful and illegal drug akin to heroin and LSD – even where it’s legal – she said more children with neurological disorders will continue struggling with damaging daily seizures.

A huge spike in hospitalizations last month caused by a class of drugs often called “synthetic marijuana” illustrates the potency and dangers of the chemicals used to make them and the shifty tactics authorities believe manufacturers are using to evade regulation.

Poison control centers around the US reported 359 cases in January of illnesses from synthetic cannabinoids, which mimic the effects of the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana but can be far more potent. There were 273 in February and 269 in March. But the number skyrocketed to just over 1,500 in April, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

A new study involving 213 children and adults suffering from the debilitating symptoms associated with epilepsy has been published.

This study set out to prove that medical marijuana contains properties able to fight against the extreme symptoms of epilepsy.

Seizures are scary for all involved; the patient themselves, their family and friends that witness the overpowering convulsions and unstoppable muscular spasms.

Grand Mal seizures originate from abnormal electrical activity throughout the brain. The Grand Mal is not specifically associated with epileptics however; extremely low blood pressure, head trauma, drug abuse, high fevers and strokes can also be triggers.

You’ve all heard the voice—at once authoritative and passive, weaving every soothing syllable into an epic yarn. It’s guided you through forbidding prisons, alien invasions, and the icy plains of Antarctica. That the voice is attached to an equally arresting, freewheeling persona has the cumulative effect of, to quote his Shawshank Redemption character, making him seem “like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world.”

The race is on to secure the five licenses to be granted under New York state’s medical marijuana program, which takes effect in January.

And the cash-crop lottery could bring in millions for the winners.

Statewide revenues will likely total $239 million in 2016 and more than $1.2 billion by 2020, according to a report issued by GreenWave Advisors late last year.

“Let the cash register ring for New York state,” says GreenWave’s Matt Karnes.

And there appears to be no shortage of investors looking to dip a hand into this cash register.

Venture capitalists willing to take the plunge include Privateer Holdings and Tilray, both of which have already had a strong presence in the legal marijuana space.

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in New York City's Union Square on Saturday to call for the legalization of marijuana in New York State.

NYC Cannabis Parade organizer Troy Smit told NBC News the annual event, first held in 2012, aims to "end the war on drugs, release the medicine, free the prisoners, heal the sick, and unite the nations."

Colorado, Washington, and Alaska have already legalized the recreational use of marijuana. In February a law went into effect in Washington, D.C., that made carrying small amounts of pot legal. Oregon voters passed a law legalizing pot that is set to take effect July 1.

The town of York is being sued by a group of medical marijuana caregivers who claim that a recently adopted town ordinance violates state confidentiality laws.

Lynne Williams, an attorney based in Bar Harbor, is representing the caregivers, who lease space at a marijuana growing facility on White Birch Lane in York.

In the lawsuit, filed this week in York County Superior Court, the caregivers are referred to only as John Doe 1-8 because they have been granted anonymity under state law.

The year was 1978: The Bee Gees were on the radio; “Grease” made its debut; Jimmy Carter was doing something or other.

The smell of marijuana was also in the air — and the odds were you wouldn’t get in trouble for smoking it, at least in New York State.

New York made just 514 marijuana-related arrests that year, according to data unearthed by Muckrock. Compare that to 2013, when there were 31,613 marijuana arrests in the state.

If you want to become a weed farmer in New York state, you’ll need more than a green thumb and some seeds.

State officials have opened the application process for a license — and it won’t be cheap. Applicants will have to plunk down a non-refundable $10,000 application fee along with the $200,000 registration fee to enter the program.

The registration lasts for two years. After that, growers have to pay again, according to the New York State Department of Health.