A number of unlicensed medical marijuana provisioning centers will be allowed to reopen for the next three months as Michigan officials respond to pleas from patients and businesses facing a marijuana shortage.

The Medical Marihuana Licensing Board agreed Wednesday in a 4-0 vote to allow provisioning centers that are in the process of applying for a license and have local buy-in to reopen until March 31.

“I think this resolution takes this back to the intent of the law -- and that is to get medicine to the people who need it,” said board member Vivian Pickard.

The move comes amid a medical marijuana shortage in Michigan caused by officials' closure of 72 unlicensed provisioning centers Jan. 1, as well as a lack of established licensed growers. Regulators had allowed licensed provisioning centers to buy marijuana from caregivers in December, but that had expired Jan. 1. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is facing three lawsuits in the Michigan Court of Claims filed this January by provisioning centers as a result.

The first two weeks of January have seen patients scrambling to find their medicine, with provisioning centers reporting desperate calls from patients across the state.

Also Wednesday, the board agreed to allow licensed provisioning centers to continue to buy marijuana from a caregiver or a temporarily operating facility and sell it untested until March 31.

Board chairman Rick Johnson said he hopes that by March 31, the licensed medical marijuana industry is able to support itself without further intervention from regulators and the licensing board.

“We’re going to take care of patients and on the 31 of March I’m hopeful you all will be in the position to be in that process,” Johnson said.

Board member Don Bailey warned that extending temporary operations will continue to drive business to the black market.

“What we’ve done with these temporary operations for the past year and a half -- we’ve expanded the black market. It’s an unintended consequence, but that’s exactly what’s happened,” Bailey said. “For the black market we’ve contributed to -- if we think that’s going to contract after April 1, it’s not.”

The resolution passed Wednesday largely meets the concerns of the patient community and the industry, which has been lobbying state officials for the past two weeks.

“This recommendation will extend the temporary operation of facilities and allow licensed businesses to remain competitive during this transition period,” said Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Director Orlene Hawks in a statement.

Regulators previously allowed licensed provisioning centers to buy marijuana from caregivers and sell it to patients untested in December 2018, as long as patients signed a waiver.

That resulted in three recalls of medical marijuana products last week -- as provisioning centers were required to test any caregiver product they were selling as of Jan. 1. Tests showed some caregiver products were contaminated with mold, E. coli and chemical residue.

Bureau of Marijuana Regulation Director Andrew Brisbo said patients need to understand the potential health risks to using caregiver product -- and encouraged patients to consider seeking out their own independent testing.

“This is the system working properly,” said Rick Thompson, a board member of Michigan NORML and MILegalize. " All the cannabis provided in 2018 was all from caregivers. If we didn’t hear of any illnesses in 2018, then it doesn’t rise to the level of emergency or concern in my mind."

-- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical marijuana.