LANSING, Mich. — In an about-face, Michigan regulators said Wednesday that medical marijuana businesses can stay open while seeking a state license as long as they have been operating with the approval of their local community.

The announcement came after the state previously gave dispensary shops until Dec. 15 to close or potentially risk not obtaining a required license, which sparked a backlash from patients, shop owners and others.

“Patient input played a big factor” in the reversal, said Andrew Brisbo, director of the Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation. The “most vulnerable” patients have the hardest time obtaining marijuana, he said.

Dispensary shops are not explicitly addressed under a 2008 voter-approved medical marijuana law that currently lets 272,000 registered patients grow their own pot or buy it from 43,000 registered caregivers. They have gone unchecked in some municipalities and have been blocked in others under a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that questioned their legality.

A five-tiered licensing system is being developed under a 2016 law that further regulated medical marijuana and aimed to address confusion. The law will impose a new 3 percent tax on provisioning centers and establish licenses to grow, process, sell, transport or test marijuana.

The state intends to issue emergency rules later this month letting certain dispensaries remain open. [Read more at The Denver Post]