The number of marijuana growers allowed to produce the drug for U.S. government-approved research will be expanded from one to 34, officials say.

For years, the University of Mississippi has been the only such producer, but researchers said the marijuana from there is not like marijuana available in states where medical and recreational marijuana is legal, the Associated Press reported.

About three years ago, the Drug Enforcement Administration began accepting applications to grow research marijuana, but the agency has not acted on them. Researchers went to court to get the DEA to process the applications. The DEA said Monday it will process 33 applications, the AP reported.

The added sites will provide researchers with a greater variety of marijuana to study, Uttam Dhillon, the DEA's acting administrator, said in a statement. The DEA also intends to propose new rules for overseeing the program and helping it evaluate applications, the AP reported.

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