Alva Review-Courier -

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri officials have granted licenses to 60 of the more than 500 companies that applied to grow marijuana for the state's fledgling medical cannabis industry.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced the winning applicants Thursday, just days after the state awarded licenses to companies seeking to transport cannabis products. Testing facilities were licensed earlier this month, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The newly announced licensees included Blue Arrow Holdings LLC, a newly formed company that plans to retrofit a building in the long-shuttered Lempt Brewery complex in St. Louis to grow cannabis indoors, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"We'll be taking over that space and sustaining it," said Max Bonanno, a consultant to Blue Arrow Holdings. "It's pretty cool."

But some of the applicants that didn't win licenses threatened to sue or appeal. Among them was Dr. Paul Callicoat, a retired cardiologist and a principal of Sarcoxie Nursery in southwest Missouri, who said his family will review "all available lawful remedies" to reverse this decision.

Voters made medical marijuana legal in 2018. The licensing program is expected to wind up by February with the awarding of licenses to applicants seeking to sell cannabis products to Missourians holding doctor-approved cards.