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Tallahassee Gets A New Cannabis Dispensary

Knox Medical's new dispensary.
Nick Evans
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Knox Medical's new dispensary.
Credit Nick Evans
/
The Florida Channel
Knox Medical's new dispensary.

Tallahassee is getting a new medical marijuana dispensary.

Knox Medical, one of Florida’s seven licensed growers, is opening its third cannabis dispensary in Tallahassee.  The company’s C-O-O Bruce Knox is proud of the company’s growth, but he admits a wave of local governments banning retail outlets presents an obstacle for his business.

“We have to go back [to] what the original legislative intent was,” Knox says, “and that was to allow patients access—accessibility—to the medicine.  So for us it’s about trying to find population centers where they are allowing cannabis to come in.”

COO Bruce Knox.
Credit Nick Evans
/
The Florida Channel
COO Bruce Knox.

Next door to the new dispensary is a compassionate care clinic next door.  That might raise eyebrows among those worried medical cannabis is another pill mill crisis in the making.  But Knox says his business has no connection with the physician, and state regulations are enough to block doctor shopping.

“When a patient gets their approval from the doctor they have to download a form, send it in to the Office of Medical Marijuana which was the Office of Compassionate Use, and then you have to get an ID card before you can purchase,” he explains.  “You know, that process has been taking anywhere from four to seven weeks at this point.”

Knox also says Florida’s database is continually updated to keep patients from using one doctor’s recommendation at multiple locations or dispensaries.

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Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.