Florida puts the brakes on Circle K’s medical marijuana deal

Last week, Circle K announced that 10 of its Florida locations will host takeaway pharmacies in 2023. Now regulators say “not anytime soon” as the deal still faces legal hurdles.

Last week, Circle K announced a major step in mainstreaming marijuana, with 10 RISE Express dispensaries reportedly set to open in Circle Ks across Florida as early as next year.

It’s a poetic twist for stoners across the country, many of whom have been illegally tipped by some dude or dudette at their local gas station for years. There’s just one problem with the plan: The state Department of Health and Human Services (DOH) hasn’t given regulatory approval to the announced partnership.

This week, Health Department officials told the Washington Examiner that the state has yet to approve the details Circle K and RISE disclosed in their announcement.

“Florida has never authorized a medical marijuana treatment center to operate out of a gas station,” a Health Department spokesman told the Washington Examiner after the reported deal went viral last week. The DOH representative added, “The opening of RISE Express stores remains subject to regulatory approval and sales are restricted to Florida patients with valid medical marijuana identification.”

DOH officials say they have not signed any plans that would allow medicinal cannabis to be sold at gas stations statewide.

According to a statement from Couche-Tard, the Canadian company that owns Circle K, the proposed deal would allow Green Thumb Industries (GTI), owner of RISE Dispensaries, to open “RISE Express” locations alongside Circle K’s convenience stores and gas stations to open. So while the gas station would not technically sell cannabis within the Circle K, the partnership would be another milestone in the legalization movement as a whole.

Circle K’s parent company last year worked on a similar pilot program with Canadian retailer Fire & Flower to launch pickup centers across the country. In the States, the Atlantic Farms business has a Gas N’ Grass cannabis convenience store in Portland, Maine. But that doesn’t make the Circle K and RISE partnership any less historic, if the companies actually pull it off.

Did they prematurely announce the weapon by announcing without authorization? Maybe. But even if Sunshine State regulators are raining down on their parade, the viral marketing boost the announcement sparked is probably still worth the drama.

Stay tuned; Strange things continue in the Circle K.