July 28th, 2016 by WCBC Radio

Although they are being selected next week, the preliminary winners of lucrative licenses to grow and process medical marijuana in Maryland will be announced on the afternoon of Aug. 15, state officials said. The Baltimore Sun reports the new date for unveiling the identities of the winners will come 10 days after the members of the Medical Cannabis Commission will publicly review and select the highest-ranked applications for the licenses.

But since all identifying information about the applicants has been redacted, applicants and the public will not know the identity of the preliminary winners until Aug. 15. Those selected will undergo another round of review and inspections before the licenses are granted.

Robust interest in Maryland's medical marijuana program has delayed its launch, as officials were inundated with nearly four times as many applications as they anticipated.

Since January, a team of experts have been reviewing the crush of applications — 146 for the 15 available grower licenses, 811 for the 94 possible dispensary licenses and 124 applications to be a processor. Preliminary approval that was originally expected by February will be granted in August.