Michigan medical marijuana regulators say they've been deluged with applications from patients and caregivers and face a five-week backlog in processing them.

State voters approved medical marijuana use a year ago.

The state Department of Community Health said Thursday it's received 10,398 applications since starting April 6.

It's issued 5,873 patient registrations and 2,440 caregiver registrations while denying 1,867, mainly because of missing information.

An average of 66 applications arrive daily. The department says it reviews applications within 15 days but workers are behind in issuing cards.

Officials say staffers now are processing applications from late September and hope to speed the process by year's end.