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Former furniture store at 3507 Erie Boulevard East could become medical pot dispensary.

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A former furniture store on Erie Boulevard East could become home to Syracuse's first medical marijuana dispensary.

Empire State Compassionate Care, one of the companies that has applied to the state for a medical marijuana license, wants to open a dispensary at 3057 Erie Boulevard East. The building, formerly occupied by the Dining Furniture Center, is next to Bruegger's Bagels near Thompson Road.

The company chose that location because it is a free-standing structure, the right size for a dispensary and close to Interstate 690, said Michael Rabinowitz-Gold, a spokesman for the company.

Empire State Compassionate Care is owned and operated by the father and son team of Michael and David Weisser of Florida. They also produce and dispense medical marijuana in New Jersey and Colorado.

Empire is one of many applicants vying for one of five medical marijuana licenses from New York state. Each licensee will be allowed to grow marijuana and operate four dispensaries. The state will pick the licensees this summer and the medical marijuana program is expected to begin in January.

Last week Empire announced it has hired Michael Balboni, the state's former chief of homeland security, as a security consultant. Balboni is a former Republican state senator from Long Island. Empire also hired former Drug Enforcement Administration and Interpol official Paul Higdon.

The company also announced it has reached a labor peace agreement with Local 338 of the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union, United Food and Commercial Workers, the union that will represent medical marijuana workers in the state. Under a labor peace agreement, an employer agrees not to resist the union's organizing attempts. State law requires licensees to hire union workers for their dispensaries and production facilities.

Empire plans to grow marijuana in New Windsor in Orange County. Its other proposed dispensary locations are in Cheektowaga, Hempstead on Long Island and Manhattan.

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