Arkansas and Florida start moving toward voter-approved medical marijuana systems, Massachusetts activists push for greater patient access, and more.

Acceptance of marijuana seems to have reached a tipping point in the United States. Four states and the District of Columbia have already legalized it, half the states have medical marijuana laws now (two-thirds if you count the CBD-only states), and as many as a half dozen states, including California, could vote on legalization in November.

Public opinion polls now consistently report majority support for legalization nationwide, and pot is increasingly moving from newspapers' crime pages to the finance and culture sections.

A medical marijuana dispensary hosted a symposium on pain Tuesday in Portsmouth, telling attendees that marijuana is being used to successfully treat some types of chronic pain.

Many of those who attended expressed frustration. They say they’ve tried in vain to get their doctors to certify them to receive medical marijuana cards.

Michelle Poulin has Crohn’s Disease and says she’s been trying for months to find a doctor who will agree to certify her, and thereby allow her to apply for a card that admits her into medical marijuana dispensaries.

“I want to get off pain pills, and I want to do this legally,” Poulin explained.

Anne Hooper was also at the symposium expressing difficulty in finding a local doctor who believes marijuana is an effective medicine.

Last week, this column was pretty pessimistic. Apologies, but when a state in my own beloved Northeast decides to put the kibosh on a law that would reduce the number of prisoners in their jails in and increase the amount of tax dollars in its coffers, it grates at the nerves. New Hampshire did it, and Vermont did too, but to the East, Maine has given New England a new hope for legalization. 

On April 29, 2016, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced that it had issued the first dispensary registration certificate to Sanctuary ATC, a state-licensed alternative treatment center, to operate its medical cannabis dispensary in Plymouth.

One day later, on April 30, Sanctuary ATC held its grand opening and officially became the state’s first alternative treatment center to dispense medical cannabis to qualified patients and caregivers.

From Maine to Miami, supporters of the cannabis movement are going to pass a torch symbolically shaped as a joint to garner support and show a united front in the fight to legalize marijuana.

It’s organized by the East Coast Cannabis Coalition (ECCC) and the so-called Unity Cypher begins its journey in Portland, Maine on April 14th, making  stops in NH, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, ME, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL. Along the way, organizers promise an appearance (and great photo op) at the United National General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in New York City on April 19 and the National Cannabis Festival in Washington D.C. on April 23.

With the goal of learning more about people’s cannabis-consumption patterns, professors and students from Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine in New Hampshire surveyed nearly 3,000 people on a wide range of marijuana-consumption-related topics.

In order to have a statistically relevant study, the researchers needed a representative pool of cannabis users from across the country—not an easy challenge, especially considering the fact that marijuana is still against the law in the majority of the nation.

A growing number of states are weighing whether to legalize marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. But for many veterans, the debate is already over.

They’re increasingly using cannabis even though it remains illegal in most states and is unapproved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.

While the research has been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares. Prescription drugs such as Klonopin and Zoloft weren’t effective or left them feeling like zombies, some say.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday evening in a voice vote that would remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine. The measure will now be considered in the Senate.

HB 1631 would make possession of up to one-half ounce of marijuana a civil violation punishable by a fine of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second offense, and $500 for a third or subsequent offense. Under current state law, possession of any amount of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000.

A New Hampshire family is hopeful that a drug derived from cannabis that is being tested at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center will help treat a rare form of epilepsy.

Colton Schools, 11, has Dravet syndrome, a form of epilepsy that has ravaged his body almost since he was born.

"If I had to describe it in one word -- horrible," said his mother, Janice Taglieri. "It started for us with Colton at a very young age. So we've been dealing with this since he was about 3 months old."

Dr. Richard Morse has been treating Colton since infancy. When Colton was 3 or 4, Morse diagnosed him with Dravet syndrome.