Eight months after the state’s controversial medical pot law took effect, the panel that’s supposed to approve marijuana dispensaries still hasn’t been seated — leaving city and town officials dazed and confused about where to turn.

The bungled launch comes as state officials are poised today to reveal the more than 100 groups lining up to open dispensaries in what experts estimate will be a $1 billion-a-year business. Officials expect the first dispensary to open in four to six months.

“I’ve never seen anything so unprepared,” said Revere City Councilor Anthony Zambuto.

“Do we even know that they have a selection committee? I would have assumed it’s already in place and we could simply go online and see who’s on it.”

The members of the so-called Selection Committee — which will dole out up to 35 coveted pot-dispensary permits across the state in the first year — won’t be made public until mid-September at the earliest, state officials said yesterday.

But they refused to say how many members will serve on the panel or even if any have been appointed.

“Officials from the Department (of Public Health) as well as the Executive Office of Health and Human Services are currently working to form the committee,” spokeswoman Anne Roach told the Herald.

The state plans to release the names of the 100 applicants — and possibly the locations where the dispensaries will open — today, Roach added.

Municipal officials complain that they have been left in the dark about the makeup of the panel and how it will go about making its decisions.

“We’ve received very little direction from the commonwealth on this,” said Lynn­field Town Administrator Bill Gustus. “I’d hope the committee would at least have one representative or several representatives that are in municipal government.”

Many communities have been feverishly fighting the pot plans, including adopting moratoriums or designating zones limiting where dispensaries would be allowed. But many municipal leaders say they wish they had more information about the process.

“The information that we’ve received at the municipal level has not been detailed, and I think every local official is trying to understand the issue and the potential magnitude of it,” said Braintree Mayor Joe Sullivan, the head of the Massachusetts Mayors Association.

By law, each county must have at least one but no more than five dispensaries where marijuana and marijuana-infused products may be cultivated, processed and grown.

Applicants have to pony up $31,500 for fees, put at least $500,000 in escrow and have no felony drug offenses in order to be OK’d by the selection committee.

The state is counting on a business that is expected to generate as much as $1 billion a year in sales.

“We’ve had a significant level of interest,” Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett said about the new crop of applicants.

“I’m glad it was a competitive process, and I know it will create a lot of jobs and provide some economic investment in Massachusetts.”