An equipment maker for growers of indoor cannabis headquartered in Colorado, is expanding its marijuana cultivation business and has chosen Arizona as one of four states to expand its operations.

The announcement comes at the same time as ballot measure Prop 205 in Arizona, which if approved, would legalize recreational pot in the state. Last Friday, a federal judge threw out a challenge to Arizona’s Prop 205, which, barring future challenges, will advance to the November ballot.

Surna, Inc. does not grow cannabis, but rather supplies industrial technology and products to commercial indoor cannabis grow facilities.

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Two agencies regulating Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Program will receive $1,8 million in state funds to run the project. The Ohio’s Department of Commerce and Ohio Pharmacy Board asked the state for financial help to start working on the House Bill 523.

Ohio’s House Bill 523 started on a solid course after receiving on Monday funds to run the medical marijuana program. House Bill 523, which was endorsed by Governor John Kasich in June, lists 19 qualifying medical conditions to allow patients purchase medical marijuana. The project will take effect on September. Even if the law legalizes the use of medical marijuana, patients will have to qualify with certain health conditions, which need to be certified by Ohio’s physicians.

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A campaign to put a marijuana-legalization question on Michigan ballots suffered a setback today that could keep the measure off November ballots.

The petition campaign called MI Legalize failed to submit enough valid petition signatures, according to a ruling by the Michigan Court of Claims.

Although MI Legalize submitted 354,000 signatures -- well over the 252,000 required -- the court agreed with a State Board of Canvassers decision in June, deciding that “more than 200,000 were collected more than 180 days before the petition was submitted” to the Secretary of State -- a violation of state law.

The MI Legalize lawsuit argued that the group had provided an easy way for the state to see that the 200,000 “stale” signatures were, in fact, valid. In addition, the lawsuit contended that the 180-day requirement was unconstitutional and unfair.

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Just under 5,000 patients and more than 600 physicians registered for New York’s medical marijuana program, according to the state’s Department of Health two-year report on the Compassionate Care Act.

New patient registration has been climbing steadily since the program went live late in December 2015. In January 2016, 476 new patients registered in New York’s medical marijuana program. That number peaked in March, when 1,162 new patients added their name to the registry. Since then, an average of over 1,000 patients joined the program every month.

The report highlights the program’s activities and provides recommendations to the governor and the state legislature on how to improve the program. Those recommendations include calls for allowing nurse practitioners to prescribe medical marijuana to patients with qualifying conditions, studying the feasibility of a home delivery service, and increasing the number of producers from five to 10, all of which could increase New York’s medical marijuana market size.

Another interesting recommendation has to do with increasing the number of strains – or as the report calls them, brands – licensed producers are allowed to grow. Currently, licensees can only grow five brands, one of which must have a high CBD and low THC content and another which must have equal CBD and THC concentrations.

Read the full report here.