Florida Circle K Gas Stations Will Start Selling Marijuana Next Year

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Starting in 2023, select Circle K gas stations in Florida will be branded as “RISE Express” stores. The Circle K Marijuana announcement came today as a joint venture between Circle K and multi-state cannabis operator Green Thumb. Green Thumb CEO Ben Kovler described the partnership as “a futuristic deal.”

Here's the rest of the details. The rebranded "RISE Express" stores will have a separate entrance from the gas station. You'll need to get your Polar Pop from one counter and your weed from a separate transaction.

The plan is to launch 10 of these stores next year as a test. If all goes well, expansion is likely. We don't know yet where these locations will be or if any will be located in Southwest Florida.

Also, you'll need to have your medical marijuana card. That's a Florida rule. The state only allows cannabis to be purchased for medical reasons.

According to the Washington Examiner, "The partnership marks the first time cannabis will be available for purchase at a gas station." Additionally, something I really did not expect.

So starting next year you may be heading to the Circle K Marijuana store and utter the phrase "Yes $30 on 4 and a bag of mids please".

UPDATE (10/20/2022): The Florida Department of Health has reached out with this comment: "This project has not been approved by the State. Florida has never approved a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center to operate out of a gas station."

More Florida News

Florida Man Returns Rental Car, Leaving Toddler In Back Seat

Volusia County Deputies arrested a Florida Man after Hertz rental car employees found a toddler in the back seat of a returned vehicle. The grandfather returned the car to the Daytona Beach International Airport rental lot. He somehow forgot that he had a child in the backseat. Here's the report from the Volusia Sheriff's Office:

"Employees at a car rental lot at Daytona Beach International Airport discovered a toddler who was left in the back seat of a returned vehicle for about 45 minutes Monday evening. The child was scared and hot, but thankfully in good health when checked by paramedics.

Deputies assigned to the airport responded to the Hertz rental lot around 6 p.m. Monday. A Hertz employee reported the toddler was found in a locked vehicle in the car return lot. Deputies arrived to find the employee carrying the child, whose face was warm and streaked with dried tears, but was breathing normally.

The vehicle had been returned at 5:13 p.m., and deputies and airport staff initially were unable to make contact with the driver. Then a call came in from the child’s mother, who had just learned her father had left her daughter in the rental car – not at his home, as he’d told her. The mother was on her way to the airport immediately to be reunited with her child, who is just under the age of 2.

The Florida Man was babysitting his granddaughter

Through interviews and airport security video footage, detectives confirmed that 62-year-old David Towner of Port Orange had been babysitting his granddaughter for the day. He left her in the rental vehicle when he returned it. Towner was remorseful and cooperative with deputies. He was charged with one count of child neglect and transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail.

The temperature in the unshaded parking lot at the time of the incident was about 80 degrees.

The child was returned to her mother and the Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident. Sheriff Mike Chitwood will be issuing citizens awards to the Hertz employees involved in the incident."

I'm guessing the Florida Man in the rental car won't be babysitting again any time soon.