It could take up to 2 years or more for an Alstead New Hampshire woman suffering from stage four lung cancer to get the medical marijuana she needs.

It was 2013 when Gov. Maggie Hassan signed into NH law the state's medical marijuana program but we may not see dispensaries until 2016. Right now the Department of Health and Human Services will not grant medical marijuana ID cards until dispensaries are open and patients still remain at risk of arrest and prosecution if caught carrying the drug.

This affects people like Linda Horan who do not want to be under the effect of narcotics in their final days.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people suffering from cancer who need the marijuana to ease the pain and lessen the intolerable side effects of both the disease and the treatments they endure.

How much good is the state's medical marijuana program doing if patients are unable to access the drugs?

That is why Linda Horan filed a lawsuit against the DHHS requesting access to a medical marijuana ID card so that she can live comfortably with whatever remaining time she has left. The lawsuit also asks that she be exempt from prosecution in New Hampshire because she'll have to obtain the marijuana in Maine.

Hear more from Linda Horan herself as she makes a heartbreaking plea to Gov. Hassan back in September: