The second phase of the application process to open a medical marijuana dispensary closed Thursday, with 100 organizations, whittled down from 158 in the previous round, vying for 35 statewide slots. It’s thought that state officials will narrow down the finalists by the end of January.

Though a recent poll conducted by Western New England University found that 74 percent of 517 statewide adults were in favor of legalizing medical marijuana, and 61 percent in favor of hosting a dispensary in their community, a number of prominent towns like Waltham and Reading have placed moratoriums on the measure to delay any action until zoning laws and state regulations are expanded upon.

Uptown, a town in Worcester County, overturned a similarly proposed one-year moratorium to delay any action on the medical marijuana front. Richard Robinson, a Board of Health member, told the local Milford Daily News simply, “The law has been in effect for a year – there’s been ample time to examine and discuss it.”

According to the Boston Globe, a recent rules changed helped to weed out a number of phase two nonprofit applicants by forcing them to prove they had at least $500,000 stashed away in the bank, or stuffed in a mattress, for various costs.

Should any of the nonprofits be awarded one of the 35 coveted licenses, they’ll be forced to comply with state-defined regulations and requirements as well as be subjected to inspections by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.