CONCORD, N.H. 

The lawyer for a New Hampshire woman with late-stage lung cancer says she could get medical marijuana in Maine if New Hampshire health officials issue her an identification card saying she's eligible.

Linda Horan of Alstead wants a judge to order the state to issue her a medical marijuana ID card before dispensaries open in New Hampshire next year. Lawyers for the state argue that would undermine New Hampshire's need to control distribution at its alternative treatment centers.

Horan said after a hearing last week that she may be dead before in-state dispensaries open.

Her lawyer filed affidavits Thursday from Maine dispensary operators saying Horan could get marijuana there with a New Hampshire ID card.

Beginning in 2012, four states and the District of Columbia have voted to legalize marijuana. By this time next year, that number could well double, and then some. National polls consistently show majorities in favor of legalization, with a recent Gallup poll showing 58% support—tied for the highest level in the poll’s history.

That doesn’t mean legalization is inevitable in any given state, as the case of Ohio demonstrated earlier this month. There an initiative led by non-movement investors who sought monopolistic control of commercial pot cultivation got trounced despite spending millions of dollars.

This weekend, the region’s largest medical marijuana convention series makes its first sojourn north to Maine. The New England Cannabis Network will hold the two-day event at the University of Southern Maine, giving the public the opportunity to engage with medical marijuana dispensaries, doctors and caregivers, as well as more than 60 local and national cannabis industry businesses and retailers with products for sale.

A previously planned convention in Maine was pushed back due to scheduling troubles, according to Marc Shepard, co-founder of NECANN, but the success of earlier shows in Boston and Providence encouraged their push to have it here.

INITIATIVE SUMMARY

BOSTON/SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) – Two groups that had backed competing ballot initiatives to make recreational use of marijuana legal in Maine agreed on Monday to join forces on one measure to put before voters in 2016.

The state is one of six where competing pro-marijuana groups hope to hold referendums on marijuana legalization in 2016, following 2012 votes that legalized the drug in Colorado and Oregon. Attitudes about marijuana in the United States have changed markedly since then, as voters in Washington, Alaska and the District of Columbia have followed suit. Voters in Ohio will weigh in on legalization next month.

BOSTON/SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Two groups that had backed competing ballot initiatives to make recreational use of marijuana legal in Maine agreed on Monday to join forces on one measure to put before voters in 2016.

The state is one of six where competing pro-marijuana groups hope to hold referendums on marijuana legalization in 2016, following 2012 votes that legalized the drug in Colorado and Oregon. Attitudes about marijuana in the United States have changed markedly since then, as voters in Washington, Alaska and the District of Columbia have followed suit. Voters in Ohio will weigh in on legalization next month.

Unless you live in the South, recreational weed is coming to a state near you

1. California made history in 1996, when it became the first state to legalize medical marijuana; next November, it will vote to allow recreational weed, and polls indicate the amendment will likely pass. "Then we will have reached the tipping point," says Angell, of the Marijuana Majority. "And with California having so many members in Congress, it will give a huge boost to our efforts to change federal law."

Maine is poised to be a leader in the recreational marijuana business because of its success with medical cannabis, the head of the state’s largest medical marijuana dispensary group said Wednesday.

Patricia Rosi, CEO of the Wellness Connection of Maine, said the state could benefit financially by allowing recreational marijuana sales and joining the country’s fastest growing industry, with an economic impact of $11.1 billion this year.

Rosi spoke about medical cannabis and marijuana legalization during the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Eggs & Issues event.

If Maine votes to legalize marijuana, even if only for adults, the biggest problem is that more teenagers will use it. We know this because that’s what happened when laws were loosened to allow medical marijuana.

Alaska

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Alaska include:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Nausea
• Muscle spasms
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain
• Seizures

For a complete list of qualifying conditions and guidelines, please refer to Alaska’s application for medical marijuana registry

Arizona

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Arizona include: