Missouri has issued medical marijuana cards to nearly 22,000 patients in the state, but they will have to wait for at least for a few more weeks until they are able to legally buy marijuana products.

Missouri officials said they will issue licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries only by about January 24, 2020.

The Department of Health and Senior Services or DHSS Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation on Thursday announced tentative dates of license issuance for all medical marijuana facility types in the state.

The DHSS said it will issue licenses for medical marijuana dispensary facilities in the state by approximately January 24, 2020, while licenses for testing facilities will be issued by about December 19, 2019.

The agency expects to issue licenses for transportation facilities by approximately December 23, 2019, and licenses for cultivation facilities by approximately December 26, 2019. Licenses for infused products manufacturing facilities will be issued by about January 10, 2020.

Seed to Sale licenses are expected to be issued by January 31, 2020.

The DHSS will announce license issuance through press releases and on its website. The Department will also notify licensees of their application approval via email.

"The high level of interest from patients and facility applicants has presented unique challenges for our team as they have implemented the constitutional amendment which will make medical marijuana available to qualified patients in Missouri. I am pleased to report that we have been true to our goal of keeping patients first by moving the program forward as efficiently as possible," said Dr. Randall Williams, director of DHSS.

In September, the DHSS said it received 2,163 medical marijuana industry applications for the state's 348 licenses. Of this, 1,163 applications are for dispensary operations, while 554 applications are for cultivation facilities. The agency also received 415 applications for manufacturing operations and 17 applications for testing facilities.

Missouri plan to issue 192 dispensary licenses, 60 cultivation licenses, 86 manufacturing licenses and 10 testing laboratory licenses in the state.

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