New Hampshire patients who have been desperately waiting for the state to begin issuing ID cards can finally breathe a sigh of relief. This afternoon, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Robert McNamara ruled in favor of Linda Horan, a terminal lung cancer patient who wishes to obtain medical marijuana legally from a dispensary in Maine. The state will now have to issue Linda an ID card without delay (you can read the full court order here). The card will protect Linda from arrest in New Hampshire and allow her to comply with the terms of Maine’s law, which allows dispensaries to serve visiting patients if they possess ID cards from their home states.
[caption id="attachment_9374" align="alignright" width="250"]
Paul Twomey, Linda Horan, and Rep. Cushing (PHOTO: InDepthNH)[/caption]
This lawsuit was needed because although New Hampshire passed its medical marijuana law in 2013, the attorney general’s office blocked the issuance of ID cards, advising that the state must wait until the first dispensary was ready to open (which is not expected until 2016). Congratulations and many thanks to Linda, her attorney, Paul Twomey, and state Rep. Renny Cushing for their courageous leadership!
Twomey summed the case up perfectly with the following quote: “Linda is a hero. Facing death, she has chosen to fight for the rights of all the critically ill patients in New Hampshire, who should not have to fear arrest because they are sick. She may be dying, but we all owe her our thanks for showing us how to live.”
If you are a patient, you can learn more about the registration process and download the relevant forms by visiting the program’s website here.