Medical marijuana regulators at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services awarded just 60 of the coveted cultivation licenses, drawing from a pool of more than 550 applicants hoping to grow medical marijuana.

One of the rejected applicants including the Callicoat family and their business Sarcoxie Nursey. However, the Callicoat didn't take the denial lying down.

A photo of the Callicoat family, owners of the Sarcoxie Nursery.

Just four days after receiving the denial, the family filed a lawsuit.

The family's lawyers argued that the health department and the office of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt had engaged in "egregious" conduct, seeking to illegally hide state government documents that recorded actions by health officials as they set up crucial parameters of the medical marijuana program in the busy months following voter approval.

If the judge sides with the Callicoats, the "license caps" imposed on marijuana by Missouri health authorities would be invalidated. Meaning, we could have many more cultivation facilities than just the 60 the state approved. Any applicant meeting Missouri's minimum standards, considered relatively rigorous by many industry types, could grow or sell marijuana.

Learn more here about getting your medical marijuana card!