Maine officials have deemed dozens of applications to run marijuana businesses to be complete, a major step on the way to the first legal sales of the drug for recreational adult use.

Mainers voted in favor of legal recreational marijuana use and sales in 2016, and the state is in the process of approving licenses for the first businesses. The state began the process of deeming more than 70 applications complete in late January, said David Heidrich, spokesman for the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy.

The office will next review the applications and issue conditional approval, after which the facility owners will need to seek local approval from their city or town, Heidrich said. The businesses include 43 stores, 25 cultivation facilities and 10 manufacturing facilities, he said.

The timing of the approval process likely means businesses will open in spring, Heidrich said.

“That’s what we’ve been striving toward since fulfilling our commitment to make applications available by the end of 2019, and we remain on pace to meet that target,” he said.

The number of businesses applying to open in the state has also been climbing. The state has received 81 applications to open marijuana stores, 64 to open cultivation facilities and 24 to open manufacturing businesses. [Read more at Bangor Daily News]