North Dakota voters will decide next month whether to legalize marijuana for medical use by siding either with opponents who say science is on their side or with supporters like a desperate grandmother who illegally purchased the drug to help her cancer-stricken daughter.

Four states have ballot measures this year asking to join the list of 25 states that have comprehensive medical marijuana programs and 17 states that permit limited access to the drug. Minnesota recently approved a plan, while several states are considering legalizing the drug altogether.

Elections aside, the marijuana industry has had an incredible run over the past two decades.

Prior to the 1996 approval of a compassionate use medical cannabis law in California, marijuana was illegal in all aspects (medical and recreational), and public support for nationwide legalization stood at just 25% per Gallup. Fast-forward to today and 25 states have legalized medical cannabis, with four states, as well as Washington D.C., legalizing the purchase of recreational marijuana for adults ages 21 and up. It's worth noting that the two most recent states to legalize medical marijuana -- Pennsylvania and Ohio -- did so entirely through the legislative process. Furthermore, public support for nationwide legalization tied an all-time high in Gallup's 2015 poll at 58%.

North Dakota is one of the states where medical marijuana legalization is up for a vote in the upcoming elections. Already, the measure is causing divisions among residents. Those in support of claiming that cannabis helps with pain, while those against argue that there is no solid scientific evidence to prove pot’s medical uses.

There are four states with ballot measures that seek to join the list of 25 states where medical marijuana is already legal. In North Dakota, the ballot initiative is called Measure 5, San Francisco Gate reports.

People in nine states, including California, Florida and Massachusetts, will vote Nov. 8 on ballot proposals permitting recreational or medical use of marijuana. These initiatives could give a big push to legalization, prompting the next president and Congress to overhaul the country’s failed drug laws.

This is a big moment for what was a fringe movement a few years ago. A Gallup poll released on Wednesday showed 60 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, up from 31 percent in 2000 and 12 percent in 1969.

Business owners are replacing idealists in the pot-legalization movement as the nascent marijuana industry creates a broad base of new donors, many of them entrepreneurs willing to spend to change drug policy.

Unlike in the past, these supporters are not limited to a few wealthy people seeking change for personal reasons. They constitute a bigger coalition of business interests. And their support provides a significant financial advantage for pro-legalization campaigns.

“It’s mainly a social-justice movement. But undoubtedly there are business interests at work, which is new in this movement,” said Kayvan Khalatbari, a one-time pot-shop owner and now head of a Denver marijuana consulting firm.

Voters could legalize recreational marijuana in five states this November and medical marijuana in three more. This record number of state ballot measures promise to be a great boon for the cannabusiness industry. With national prohibitions against interstate cannabis commerce, as well as current federal banking and drug laws, large companies have been kept out of the industry, so the market is still primarily comprised of small businesses.

California, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada will consider legalizing  the recreational use of cannabis while Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota will decide on marijuana for medical purposes.

What’s going on state by state?

California, Prop 64 

Voters on Nov. 8 will decide ballot measures in nine states that would expand legal access to marijuana. Here's a rundown:

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RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

In five states, the ballot measures propose to legalize recreational marijuana use for anyone 21 and over.

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When searching for America's fastest-growing industries, chances are you'll find marijuana near, or at, the top. Cannabis research firm ArcView pegged legal sales of the drug at $5.4 billion in 2015 and believes the legal industry can grow organically by 30% per year through 2020. This would bring legal sales for the industry to nearly $22 billion if this estimate were to come to fruition.

There will be more than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on the ballot this November, voters heading to the polls in nine states will also be deciding on Marijuana.

Collectively, these marijuana measures mean more voters will be weighing in on cannabis issues than any other year in American history.

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn and his family opened Takoma Wellness Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in the District of Columbia three years ago.