With the deadline to submit an application for a medical marijuana business closed, more than 2,100 were received, bringing in more than $5.3 million in fees, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. 

On Thursday, the department announced it would extend the deadline to Monday at 4:30 p.m. Initially the cutoff was Saturday at midnight, but with a slow start early in the application period, the department expected an influx toward the end. 

“We had learned over the application period that there was a lot of questions, a lot of people calling and asking for assistance with their application,” said program director Lyndall Fraker. “We wanted to give that full service to everyone, so we felt like moving it to a business day would help do that.”

The decision turned out to be a good one, Fraker said. When they made the decision to extend, the department had only received roughly 250 applications. On top of having the manpower, Fraker said they were also concerned the online system might crash. According to DHSS, the application system received more than 800 applications in the final 24 hours. [Read more at St. Louis Public Radio]