Photo used under a Creative Commons license with JosephAdams.

Go figure. After a year of little to no forward momentum in the implementation of the District’s long-awaited medical marijuana program, things suddenly kicked into gear during the very week that I was abroad. Sigh.

According to the Washington Times’ Tom Howell, Jr., city officials have started paring down the list of potential applicants for licenses to run the five planned dispensaries and 10 cultivation centers around the District. The Post reports that budding entrepreneurs who submitted letters of intent that passed initial muster will have until September 9 to complete full applications that will then be judged by a five-person committee weighing everything from security plans to ANC input. (Howell also writes that the city is being very strict in its application of the rules.)

If all things go to plan, medical marijuana will be available to patients in May 2012, close to two years after the program was given the go-ahead by Congress and 14 years after it was approved by D.C. voters in a referendum. Talk about deliberate, huh?

Of course, there’s still the unresolved issue of what the federal government will do. As we’ve reported, a recent Department of Justice memo on medical marijuana (in essence: it’s still illegal, no matter what state law says) has city officials proceeding cautiously. Moreover, any future administration can opt to take a harder line against state-based medical marijuana programs, making the decision to jump into the business a risky one.

For now, though, keep it here for any and all news on medical marijuana. (DCist: All the Medical Marijuana News that’s Fit to Print.) I swear I won’t take another vacation until this thing is finally up and running.