New Hampshire patients who qualify for medical marijuana can now receive the identification cards needed to legally purchase and possess cannabis, though dispensaries won't begin operating until spring.

The decision to begin issuing cards on Monday comes after a woman with terminal cancer sued the state for access to an identification card so she could buy marijuana in Maine. She won the case, prompting the attorney general to advise the state to give out cards before the dispensaries open.

The cards will allow qualifying patients to legally possess up to two ounces of marijuana, meaning they could buy it in other states without fear of facing charges.

The Legislature approved medical marijuana in 2013.

Medical marijuana could be a big topic of discussion for state lawmakers in 2016.

Bills in the state Senate would create protections for dispensaries and people who use non-smokable forms of medical marijuana, such as baked items and oils.

Now, Democratic state Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, has introduced a new bill that would ban employers from firing workers for having a medical marijuana card.

Singh says firings have become a problem in many states where medical marijuana is legal.

“We’re definitely seeing it across the country. And so therefore we know it will happen here in Michigan, if it already hasn’t,” he said.

Public support for the legalization of marijuana is on the rise.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 58 percent of Americans think it should be legalized. That's a 14 percent jump since Gallup polled Americans in 2009, and a 46 percent jump since Gallup first asked the question in 1969.

Recreational marijuana use is now legal in four states, and close to two dozen states have provisions allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Those numbers can be expected to increase as public support for marijuana legalization continues to grow, as can the number of businesses looking to grow and sell weed to consumers.

Harris County is Texas’ most populous county, and is the third most populous county in all of America. There are an estimated 4.337 (2013) million people in Harris County, Texas. To put that into perspective, there are less than 4 million people in the entire state of Oregon. Starting Friday, marijuana will be decriminalized for all first time offenders that are caught with up to two ounces of marijuana, per the directive of Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson.

EUGENE, Ore. -- When it comes to using marijuana in Oregon, the lines are still blurred around regulations and usage.

That's why Michael Hirsch is fighting for what he says is his right to be employed and to use - not abuse - medical marijuana.

Hirsch won his fight against prostate cancer in 2011 but he now faces a daily battle with debilitating side effects from cancer treatment.

"I have ongoing issues with my digestive system and such to the point that it required hospitalization from kidney failure," explained Hirsch.

So he says doctors prescribed the best prescription they could to help him function.

"Medical cannabis really helps control and helps my digestive system," Hirsch says, "and is just one example of how it really improves my life."

During a secondary inspection, officers discovered 37 packages of marijuana, weighing 67 pounds, hidden inside the white 1999 white Dodge Dakota. (Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Officers arrested a 21-year-old Harlingen woman at the Gateway International Bridge on Tuesday after finding nearly 70 pounds of marijuana hidden in her pickup truck.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers encountered the woman at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, where she applied for entry into the country, according to an agency news release.

During a secondary inspection, officers discovered 37 packages of marijuana, weighing 67 pounds, hidden inside the white 1999 white Dodge Dakota.

A nonprofit in Denver, Colorado, gave away thousands of free, pre-rolled marijuana joints to the homeless and anyone else who wanted one on Christmas Eve, in an out-of-the box attempt to raise awareness about homelessness.

“Merry Christmas and a puff puff New Year’s!” said one woman who accepted a joint from the Cannabis Can volunteers, a local ABC affiliate reported.

Jeffrey Friedland speaking with Kevin McGovern about his book, Marijuana: The World's Most Misunderstood Plant, and the future of the marijuana industry.

Facing a state deadline of March 1, the Chino planning commission voted 7-0 Monday to recommend the City of Chino adopt an ordinance to prohibit cultivation, delivery or dispensing of marijuana within the city limits.

Cities that do not adopt their own regulations by the deadline will be subject to regulation by the state under the recently signed Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, senior planner Michael Hitz told the commission. The state will permit the marijuana activities that the ordinance would ban, he said.