Bloomfield Industries, one of the five companies licensed to sell medical marijuana in New York, is being acquired by MedMen, a California-based marijuana management and consulting firm. 

The change in ownership comes just two days after New York State’s medical marijuana program marked its first year, amid cries from executives that the market is not viable and reassurances from the state Department of Health that the program remains on course.

I was one of the first to commend Governor Andrew Cuomo on a job well done when he passed the medical marijuana law in New York State, but I have since been so disappointed in his handling, or mishandling, of this very issue. The governor does not seem to understand that it is a not only morally wrong but it is also negligent to pass a law like this and then simply wash your hands of the subject.

On Wednesday, Steven Ognibene had to take the day off from work.

The Rochester surgeon needed to drive three hours to Binghamton because the type of medical marijuana that could help his 11-year-old son, Vincent, wasn’t available locally. It was, though, available at a dispensary in Johnson City, Broome County.

The trip illustrates the obstacles some patients and their families are facing nearly one year after New York allowed for the use of medical marijuana in non-smokable forms for certain conditions.

Medical marijuana is for suffering patients. That seems obvious, but there are a lot of policies in America that prevent suffering patients form using medical marijuana. Hospitals are centers for suffering people. It’s where people go to be treated and hopefully healed. Marijuana is a proven medicine, so one would think that people would be able to use marijuana in hospitals in certain forms. I don’t think that anyone would rationally think that anyone would smoke anything (marijuana included) in a hospital, but administering cannabis oil or marijuana edibles to a patient in need doesn’t seem like a big deal.

'We are facing a never before seen cohort of older adults who use recreational drugs' say researchers.

An unprecedented number of older people are using illegal recreational drugs in the US, according to a study which has revealed a 70 per cent spike in cannabis use among Baby Boomers in the past decade. 

“For years we’ve been worried about the potential effects of marijuana on the developing brains of teens, but now we may need a bit more focus on their grandparents, who are increasingly more likely to be current users,” said Dr Joseph J. Palamar of New York University, one of the lead authors of the study. 

The first cannabis company on a major U.S. stock exchange failed to make a big splash in its Wall Street debut.

Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR) announced it sold 3.35 million shares at $20 per share, raising $67 million in its initial public offering, which had been delayed and downsized.

Shares opened at $20.25 but closed at $19.15 on Thursday for IIP, a San Diego, Calif.-based real estate investment trust for medical cannabis facilities.

New York expanded its medical marijuana guidelines Thursday, permitting patients to use pot to treat chronic pain.

“The ability to provide access to patients who have all forms of pain, I think it’s critical, and it’s part of the mission of the program,” said CEO of Columbia Care, a cannabis provider in Manhattan, Nicholas Vita.

While chronic pain might be seen as a catch-all, Vita doesn’t expect recreational users to try to game the system, WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported.

“If somebody really wants to procure marijuana for recreational purposes, they can go to the black market,” he said. 

The medical marijuana program in the state of New York is one of the most restrictive programs in the entire country. There are 10 conditions that qualify a patient for medical cannabis in New York and while full strength cannabis is available, it is only available in non-smokable forms like oils, edibles, capsules, tinctures and the like. However, the state has been talking about expanding their program for a while now – and it looks like they’re finally taking action to see these changes through.

Daniel Cermak, 22, is a proper New Yorker, born and raised in Manhattan. His mother is American, and his father emigrated to the US some 30 years ago from what was then Czechoslovakia in the dying days of communism. At first Daniel’s dad sold hot dogs. Eventually he became a businessman in the construction industry. He never forgot his homeland, though, and regularly brought the whole family to Czechia.

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S. resulting in at least 584,881 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recent animal studies show that marijuana extracts can help kill certain cancer cells and even reduce the size of some of them. But, marijuana is still illegal in several states. The number of people who’ve died due to an overdose of marijuana? None.