'Just doesn’t make sense': Mixed reaction on medical marijuana dispensaries in Florida Circle K gas stations

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health says there are more than 700,000 Floridians with medical marijuana cards. Getting their hands on their ganja is about to get a lot easier.

Ten different Circle K convenience stores will be leasing out space to dispensaries owned by a company called Green Thumb starting next year. The new dispensaries are called Rise Express. 

Most people FOX 35 News spoke with about the new dispensaries were against the idea. 

"I don’t like it," Evelyn Jackson said simply. FOX 35 talked with her right after she’d picked up her own medical marijuana from a Trulieve location in Orlando. 

Evelyn Jackson says she’s all for medical marijuana, explaining it helps with her anxiety. However, she says she doesn’t like the idea of it being right outside a Circle K. She says she’s seen several dispensaries that don’t check IDs or medical marijuana cards, and that makes her nervous about a pot shop being right by a convenience store. 

"Children go to the stores, and they could pick up anything. I don’t think they should have it in there."

Other people, like David Mink, were on the fence about the whole thing.

"It honestly just doesn’t make sense to me right now with the current laws. If we had different laws, I’d be all for it, but I don’t understand where it’s going right now," said Mink.

Florida is past the argument over whether medical marijuana should be legal.

It has the second-highest number of medical marijuana users in the United States, trailing only behind California.

"People are happier, things are easier. I think it’s a really good thing. I think the sooner Florida gets on board, the better," said Michel Holt, who says he’s lived in California and Oregon and thinks recreational marijuana should be legalized here too.

But as for where people can buy their pot – that was a tougher question for FOX 35 News spoke with.

Green Thumb, the owner of the Rise Dispensaries, explained in a statement their goal is to make it so that buying weed can be part of people’s everyday routine. 

And there are plenty of people on board with that.

"I think it’s about time," said Holt. "The more access, the better."

Green Thumb says you’ll be able to stop by dispensaries beside ten different Circle Ks across the state. 

There’s no list yet of where those will be located, but we do know they’re set to open sometime next year.

The marijuana sold at the ten new dispensaries will come from a cultivation facility in Ocala that’s opening at the end of 2022.