COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — Illinois Supply and Provisions, the Metro East's only recreational marijuana dispensary, launched a shuttle service to ease parking issues outside the business Tuesday, but it didn't go as planned.
Illinois Supply and Provisions saw massive crowds and hours-long wait times in the first days of Illinois' new recreational marijuana law, but the dispensary has a relatively small parking lot.
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Shoppers were parking on the lot of the DoubleTree hotel, but they now have a new parking plan, a press release from the dispensary said.
A press release said customers could park at Zapata's Mexican Restaurant at 8 Eastport Plaza Drive and Gateway Fun Park at 8 Gateway Drive, and shuttles would transport people back and forth from the dispensary. The shuttles will run from Tuesday to Sunday each week until further notice, the press release said.
But on Tuesday, many customers said the shuttle picked them up from the businesses but left them high and dry at Illinois Supply and Provisions. Customers said they had to walk back to their cars in the rain after the shuttles couldn't return them to their cars.
The dispensary said the shuttles could not transport the customers and their marijuana back due to federal regulations. The dispensary said they were still working to find a solution.
The release said unauthorized cars parked on Executive Drive or any other nearby business will not be permitted. The release did not say what the punishment would be.
Illinois Supply and Provisions is open on Monday, but only for medical marijuana sales. Those days see significantly shorter wait times and serve patients with medical marijuana cards from Illinois and other states that allow for medical marijuana use, including Missouri.
Right now, Illinois Supply and Provisions in Collinsville is the only location in the Metro East to get recreational marijuana. A second dispensary has been announced in Sauget. The Green Solution is a medical cannabis dispensary that recently got a license to sell recreational marijuana. The Green Solution hasn’t said when it’ll make the switch.
Nearly $40 million in cannabis was sold in Illinois during the first month of sales, the state announced Monday.
