Linda Horan is pictured outside Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord.

UPDATE: To include New Hampshire Public Radio report that Attorney General Joseph Foster is advising DHHS to issue medical marijuana ID cards to other eligible patients.

PORTLAND — A terminally ill woman who successfully sued the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to obtain the state’s first medical marijuana patient ID card will visit a medical marijuana dispensary in Portland, Maine on Friday.

Linda Horan of Alstead, who suffers from Stage 4 lung cancer, will hold a media availability outside of Wellness Connection of Maine at 1 p.m., where she will be accompanied by New Hampshire State Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton, and several of her supporters. Members of the media are asked to respect the privacy of other patients who might be visiting the dispensary.

“I feel better already, knowing that I will not have to spend my final days in a narcotic stupor,” Horan said. “I look forward to visiting the dispensary, learning about which products would be best for treating my symptoms. I will finally receive the medicine I need, and I won’t need to fear being treated like a criminal for it.”

What will happen to the other qualifying patients who are awaiting ID cards is unclear.

Attorney General Joseph Foster and others in is office have not responded to emails or phone calls left by InDepthNH.org seeking comment for the last week. New Hampshire Public Radio reported late Thursday afternoon that Foster is advising DHHS to start issuing medical marijuana ID cards.

Horan and her attorney Paul Twomey had not been notified of Foster’s apparent decision.

“At this point, we have only issued a card to Linda Horan in
response to the court order,” said John B. Martin, manager Bureau of Licensing and Certification at DHHS.

“We have consulted the the Attorney General’s
Office and we are awaiting their guidance as to whether we should begin
issuing cards to all qualifying patients and designated caregivers,” Martin said in an email.

The state has received 83 applications so far, almost all for potentially qualifying patients and a few for designated caregivers, he said.

Horan filed a lawsuit against Health and Human Services Commissioner Nicholas Toumpas on Nov. 5, asking the agency to immediately issue her a medical marijuana ID card so that she can begin obtaining medical marijuana legally in Maine and using it without fear of arrest in New Hampshire. On Nov. 24,  Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Richard McNamara ordered the state  to issue her a card.

DHHS is responsible for administrating the state’s medical marijuana program, which has experienced several delays since Gov. Maggie Hassan signed it into law in July 2013. The agency began accepting applications from patients interested in participating in the program, but patients remain at risk of arrest and prosecution until they receive program ID cards.

DHHS had refused to issue ID cards until dispensaries open, which is not expected until 2016, and it has not issued cards to any patients other than Horan.

Horan filed a pre-registration application to participate in New Hampshire’s medical marijuana program after receiving approval from all five of her physicians.

“I am frustrated and angry that two and a half years after New Hampshire’s medical marijuana law took effect, Linda was forced to sue the state to get access to her medicine,”  Cushing said. “She is brave and tenacious, and she’s paving the way for other patients in New Hampshire. Nobody should have to fight as hard as she did to get the medical treatment they deserve.”

InDepthNH.org contributed to this report.