The Missouri health department announced Thursday afternoon that medical marijuana dispensary licenses will be awarded to would-be owners "approximately January 24, 2020," with most other types of marijuana business licenses being awarded more quickly.

Beginning in August, the state received more than 2,200 applications for just 348 marijuana business licenses, of which 192 will go out to retail marijuana dispensaries. They're expected to be operating in mid-2020.

So far, more than 22,000 Missourians have applied and been granted a qualifying patient ID card making it legal for them to possess and use marijuana as medicinal treatment, according to reports by the Associated Press.

A timeline circulated by the Department of Health and Senior Services earlier this year listed Dec. 31 as the date of "deadline for approval" for medical marijuana business licenses.

But medical marijuana Amendment 2, formally known as Article 14 of the Missouri Constitution, does not set such a hard deadline.

"Applications for (marijuana business) licenses and certifications under this section shall be approved or denied by the Department no later than one hundred fifty days after their submission," states the constitutional amendment, approved by more than 65 percent of Missouri voters in the general election of Nov. 2018.

Testing facilities for cannabis lead off the "tentative" timetable state officials released late Thursday. 

• Testing facilities: approximately December 19, 2019
• Transportation facilities: approximately December 23, 2019
• Cultivation facilities: approximately December 26, 2019
• Infused Products Manufacturing facilities: approximately January 10, 2020
• Dispensary facilities: approximately January 24, 2020
• Seed to Sale tracking: January 31, 2020

DHSS officials said they will continue to receive and process applications for transportation and seed to sale licenses indefinitely, following the dictates of the amendment.

Applications are scored by a "blind scoring" company selected by the state earlier this year. DHSS said it plans to announce licenses via press release and on its website. The department will also notify licensees of their application approval by sending email to at least two individuals identified in the application, including the applicant’s listed primary contact. Officials advised applicants to monitor the email address of their primary contact on and around the applicable dates listed above.

DHSS issued an emergency rule in October giving applicants 48 hours to claim their license, once the email goes out.

“We look forward to working with all licensed entities as we begin to build a safe and compliant medical marijuana industry in Missouri,” said Lyndall Fraker, director of Missouri's Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation.

DHSS estimated that due to the timing of complete applications submitted, state officials will meet the 150-day approval constitutional requirement for more than 99.99 percent of the applicant pool.

“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,” said Randall Williams, director of DHSS.

“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,” Williams added.