Officials in Niles and Buchanan are hoping for a faster medical pot licensing process from the state.

A new state agency to approve business licenses for medical pot could expedite the process statewide, especially in the case of the provisioning centers that could serve about 4000 registered patients in Berrien County, according to the South Bend Tribune.

Buchanan’s City Hall reports regular calls from people looking to obtain the medical products they use, and there is a lack of provisioning centers in southwest Michigan. The nearest sites, in fact, are at least 40 miles away, the South Bend Tribune reported.

Michigan’s medical cannabis business license approval process has been criticized as slow, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer mentioned certain “inefficiencies” when she took steps to speed things up last week.

Read more in the original story published by the South Bend Tribune.