Circle K, Green Thumb Plan Medical Marijuana Outlets Next to Florida Stores

Convenience store chain Circle K has entered an agreement with cannabis grower and distributor Green Thumb Industries to open medical marijuana outlets in retail space adjacent to Circle K stores in Florida.

Green Thumb, owner of Rise Dispensaries, will supply the weed to the gas-station outlets from its new 28-acre cultivation facility in Ocala, FL. The pot farm is scheduled to open at the end of this year.

Green Thumb will lease space adjacent to Circle K stores for its new Rise Express outlets, which will offer the company’s brand-named RHYTHM cannabis flower, Dogwalkers pre-rolls, Incredible gummies and Shine vapes for medical use.

The companies said Ryan Express will roll out the venture in 2023 with a pilot program involving 10 of Circle K’s 600 Florida convenience store locations.

According to the partners, the Rise Express outlets will be next door to Circle K stores but will have a separate entrance and cannot be entered from inside the Circle K shops—a setup similar to that deployed by Publix super markets and Publix Liquor stores.

“To be clear, Circle K is not selling cannabis in its US stores,” a Circle K spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.

To be clear, Circle K is not selling weed in its US stores. It’s exclusively leasing part of its property to a cannabis grower to sell weed in outlets adjacent to Circle K convenience stores—with separate entrances—so regular Circle K customers can have easy access to the weed they need for medical purposes.

“Convenience is a strong channel in retail, and people want more access to cannabis,” said Ben Kovler, Green Thumb CEO, in a statement.

“The new Rise Express model makes it easier and more efficient for patients to purchase high-quality cannabis as part of their everyday routine when stopping by their local convenience store,” Kovler said.

Easier and efficient, just a door away—but not actually inside the Circle K store—although the number of steps you’ll have to walk from your parking space likely will be equidistant.

The sale of weed next to convenience store outlets would be a first in the nation; thus far, states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana—or both—have restricted the sale of weed and THC-containing products to state-approved dispensaries that usually are stand-alone facilities.

Florida voters approved medical marijuana legalization in 2017; the sale of flower for smoking didn’t begin until 2019, with edibles arriving in weed dispensaries in 2020. Recreation marijuana remains illegal in Florida.

Chicago-based Green Thumb, a national grower which entered the Florida market in 2018, owns medical dispensaries in seven locations. In addition to the new Ocala farm, the company cultivates weed at a facility in Homestead, FL.

Recreational marijuana now is legal in 19 states, Washington DC and Guam; medical marijuana is legal in 38 states.