On Thursday, Washington, D.C.'s health department announced that of the seventeen original applicants, four medical marijuana dispensary applicants have advanced to the next stage of the District's official approval process.

Health Department spokeswoman Najma Roberts stated that 'the list is pretty final,' suggesting that the remaining 13 applicants will not have an opportunity during this round to garner enough points to move onto the next stage.

The four dispensaries that have moved onto the next stage of the approval process are:

Herbal Alternatives - on the 1100 block of 20th Street NW.
Metropolitan Wellness Center - on the Barracks Row strip on Capitol Hill
Takoma Wellness Center - on the 6900 block of Blair Road NW.
Center City Care - on North Capitol Street just north of New York Avenue

Center City Care has also acquired the right to register as both a dispensary as well as a cultivation center.

If the remaining approval process goes as planned, medical marijuana may be available to qualified patients sometime in the 3rd quarter of this year.