The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission says the highest-scoring bids to become the first legal growers of medical marijuana in the state will be announced Feb. 27.

The five-member commission will receive 95 applications for one of the state's five cultivator licenses in two weeks and will review and score the applications by Feb. 20.

In addition to the 95 applications to grow marijuana, the commission received 227 applications in October to open one of 32 dispensaries where the drug will be sold to qualifying patients.

The commission's legal adviser, state attorney Joel DiPippa, says scoring that bundle of applications will take longer, and the winners are not likely to be announced until late April.

DiPippa says licenses for medical pot businesses could be handed out by the end of June.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)