The first New Hampshire resident to be certified as a medical marijuana patient will travel to Maine Friday to buy marijuana from a Portland dispensary.

Linda Horan, a 64-year-old Alstead resident with end-stage lung cancer, last month won a lawsuit that allowed her to become certified as a medical marijuana patient so she could buy marijuana in Maine. New Hampshire lawmakers approved the use of medical marijuana more than two years ago, but the first four dispensaries are not expected to open until next year.

Horan says she may be dead by the time dispensaries open and sued the state to get an identification card that would allow her to purchase medical marijuana in Maine, where there are eight dispensaries and more than 2,200 caregivers authorized to sell marijuana. Lawyers for the state argued that issuing Horan a card would undermine New Hampshire’s need to control distribution, but a judge ordered the state to process Horan’s application and issue a card if it was approved. [Read more at the Portland Press Herald]