CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) -- A company planning to grow medical marijuana has purchased land in Allegany County to cultivate the plant.

The Cumberland Times-News  reports that Vast Organic Farms has bought 26 acres in Oldtown and is hoping to obtain one of 15 licenses the state of Maryland is planning to issue by early 2016 for medical marijuana growers.

The company's CEO Casey Callister says the farm would combine indoor growing in greenhouses with possible traditional open-air growing, depending on state regulations. Proposed regulations require strong security, including video surveillance and security guards.

On Sunday, the crisis has worsened in Greece after voters reject a referendum of the terms of the country’s international aid bailout, increasing the risk of Greece dropping out of the euro zone. Banks in Greece will remain closed until at least Friday of this week. The country is trying to reopen bailout negotiations with official creditors to save its financial system from a dramatic collapse. Greece issued a ruling last week imposing capital control and demanded banks to close after the European Central Bank (ECB) froze a crucial financial lifeline following the failure of bailout talks between Athens and its international creditors. While Greece looks to fix its economic crisis U.S marijuana stocks in the cannabis sector have been booming.

Last year, whenever women asked Jazmin Hupp about starting a medical-marijuana business in New York, she responded with a question: “Do you have a million dollars?” Hupp is the founder of Women Grow, a professional network for women with marijuana businesses, and she's used to helping others get their start in a male-dominated industry. New York, however, was especially daunting. The state was licensing only five companies to participate in its medical-marijuana program, and each would be required to grow its own marijuana, process the flowers into a pill or oil at a manufacturing plant, and then sell the final product at four dispensaries around the state. The costs of vertical integration are enormous, and it is historically more difficult for women to raise capital than men.

Belvidere, July 07, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terra Tech's wholly owned subsidiary Edible Garden Corp. applied for and was approved for New Jersey's Clean Energy Pay for Performance Program.  Edible Garden Corp. will be receiving a total of approximately $300,000 over the next nine months.  The first check has been received in the amount of $21,368.40.  New Jersey's Clean Energy Program is a statewide program that offers financial incentives, programs and services for New Jersey residents, business owners and local governments to help reduce the State's energy usage, peak demand, as well as to transform the marketplace for the next generation of energy efficiency technologies.

TAMPA, Fla.--(Business Wire)--Neutra Corp. (OTCBB:NTRR) and Surface to Air Solutions (S2O2) could soon take their partnership international as talks opened this week to bring the joint venture’s pesticide-free growing solutions to cannabis growers in Canada.

VANCOUVER, WA (KPTV) -

Customers called it the McDonald's of marijuana, but according to Vancouver police, it's an illegal operation. 

Adam Alexander, owner of "Grow Systems Northwest," was arrested July 2nd. Police said he never had a license to sell, manufacture or grow marijuana.

The Drug Task Force began investigating "Grow Systems Northwest" off Saint Johns Road and 65th Avenue in Vancouver, after they grew suspicious of its operation.

David Snyder, who works at a business next door, described the scene of the raid.

"The feds came and packed them all up, and their belongings and hauled them off some place," he said.

Police said Alexander served a few hundred customers daily in a drive through lot, profiting $5,000-$10,000 a day in cash.

As Illinois' fledgling marijuana industry slowly gets underway, some companies have begun hiring in anticipation of opening in the coming months, attracting a diverse set of candidates willing to take a chance on a business with an uncertain future so they can get in on the ground floor.

Take Rick Bower, 58, of downstate Dwight. After working for 31 years at commercial printing giant RR Donnelley, Bower has been hired as the inaugural director of warehousing at PharmaCann, where he will bring his expertise in workflow standardization and quality control to its Dwight and Hillcrest cultivation centers.

DENVER >> Presidential candidates are talking about marijuana in ways unimaginable not long ago.

White House hopefuls in both parties are taking donations from people in the new marijuana industry, which is investing heavily in political activism as a route to expanded legalization and landed its first major candidate, Rand Paul, at a trade show last month.

Several Republicans, like Democrats, are saying they won’t interfere with states that are legalizing a drug still forbidden under federal law. And at conservative policy gatherings, Republicans are discussing whether drug sentences should be eased.

The Viridian Cannabis Stocks Index gained 23.6% through Q1’2015, significantly outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average (down 0.3%), the S&P 500 (up 0.4%), the NASDAQ (up 3.5%), and the Russell 2000 (up 3.0%). This gain follows a strong 2014 performance (up 38.4%), but two down quarters in Q3 and Q4’2014. We attribute the strong first quarter to several factors, including:

• The traditional “January effect” in small cap stocks, whereby prices recover from year-end tax selling.
• Increase in the number and dollar volume of capital raises, providing working capital for 23
• Increase in M&A and partnership activity, helping companies build market share and accelerate

Where are the Winners & Losers

The city’s oldest marijuana compassion clubs and other non-profit dispensaries may be able to sidestep the city’s new bylaw that restricts them from being near schools and community centres.

Councillor Kerry Jang, Vision Vancouver’s spokesman on marijuana issues, has said new rules barring any pot shops within 300 metres of schools, community centres or other similar stores will apply to all Vancouver’s existing 100 dispensaries. This could mean up to two-thirds may have to move to secure a special new business licence.