A British company that makes medicines from cannabis is aiming to raise almost $180m on Nasdaq to push forward a new treatment for childhood epilepsy.

The share issue would bring the total raised by GW Pharmaceuticals in New York over the past two years to nearly $450m. During that time, its market capitalisation in London, where it has a dual listing, has grown from less than £100m to almost £1.5bn.

GW has special permission from the UK Home Office to grow cannabis at an undisclosed location in England for use in drugs that harness the therapeutic benefits of marijuana without producing the “high” associated with smoking the plant.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- With New York's medical marijuana program not planned to start until next year, parents of children with debilitating neurological conditions on Tuesday urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers to make the drug available now for those with the greatest need.

ALBANY – The state Department of Health announced Monday it is accepting applications from businesses interested in becoming registered organizations to manufacture and dispense medical marijuana in New York.

The announcement comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo on July 7 signed into law the legalization of marijuana for seriously ill or injured patients.

It will be allowable in non-smokeable forms. Medical marijuana advocates have been clamoring for the state to speed up the process, saying patients, particularly sick children, need the drug as soon as possible.

Over the past three weeks, people have been tumbling into emergency rooms across the country, seriously ill after using a synthetic drug known as K2 or spice.

Hundreds of cases have been reported in states including Alabama, Mississippi and New York, where state health departments have warned people to stay away from the drug. New York City alone saw over 120 emergency cases in a single week in April.

Several people have died, and emergency room physicians have been seeing K2 users showing up with severe symptoms: high blood pressure, clenched muscles, seizures, hallucinations and psychosis.

Marijuana has been smokin’ hot lately, with Wall Street trying to tap into the reefer madness with all sorts of funds aimed at businesses in Colorado and Washington state.

That being said, legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis is not the same as making it good business.

Federal law still considers marijuana a Class I drug (with no redeeming medical value), effectively denying marijuana entrepreneurs access to banking and other financial services and forcing them to operate using large sums of cash.

Some 23 states (and the District of Columbia) have passed measures allowing for some degree of legal recreational and/or medicinal cannabis consumption.

When discussing medical marijuana, the conversation inevitably turns to whether the federal government or a state will legalize recreational use of the drug. 

That's not the case when you're talking to Josh Stanley, who has been called the "pioneer" of Colorado's medical marijuana industry. 

Stanley and his business, Citiva Medical, are focused squarely on the medicinal uses of the cannabis plant. With New York legalizing the use of medical marijuana, the company is looking to be one of five licensed growers of the drug in the state. 

For Stanley, the question is why move to New York? Why not stay in Colorado where he became a leading voice for the medical marijuana movement? 

In short, it's about science. 

BISHOPVILLE, S.C. — During the graveyard shift at 1:44 a.m., security cameras at the prison here picked up the blinking lights of an unidentified flying object approaching the facility’s fence.

A corrections officer was dispatched to investigate, but by the time she got there, all she could see was a man running away into the dense forest that surrounds the prison.

The Global Marijuana March (GMM) is kicking off at different locations across the world taking place this year on Saturday May 2, 2015 and include marches, meetings, rallies, concerts, festivals and other relevant information and events relating to cannabis.

The Global Marijuana March began in 1999 which have had hundreds of thousands of people participated in over 829 different cities in 72 countries worldwide since its inception.

The Global Marijuana March is a celebration embracing cannabis culture as a personal lifestyle choice. Participants unite to discuss, promote, entertain and educate both consumers and non-consumers alike.

Growing marijuana was not Ted Berndt's first thought.

The 50-year-old has never even smoked pot. Not once. He swears.