Five companies have been picked by New York state health officials to operate the state's new medical marijuana program when it begins next year, and three of them will be located in the Hudson Valley.

State officials announced Orange County will be the spot of a "grow house," and there will be two dispensaries in Westchester.

Marijuana for PharmaCann LLC will be grown at a location in Hamptonburgh. The drug will be given out in Yonkers by Etain LLC.

Etain will renovate a building at 460 Nepperhan Ave. for its operations. The building is currently used by the Yonkers Fire Department to store firetrucks.

Empire State Health Solutions will provide the drug out of White Plains.

Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus praised the state for awarding the county one of its five medical marijuana licenses.

"Medical marijuana helps people in need and also creates jobs in Orange County. This decision means compassionate care and better jobs for our community. Those are great wins for our county," Neuhaus says.

Under a law passed last year, New York will have one of the country's strictest medical marijuana programs. Patients with qualifying conditions like cancer, AIDS or epilepsy will be authorized to obtain only non-smokable versions of the drug.