Girl Scouts Go After Stoners

It’s the perfect mix of munchies and moolah. In cities across the country, including San Francisco, enterprising girls have discovered a novel method for selling Girl Scout Cookies: setting up shop outside medical marijuana dispensaries.

And business is booming. Within just two hours of setting up her stand outside The Green Cross dispensary in San Francisco, 13-year-old Danielle Lei sold 117 boxes of cookies.

According to the pot shop, Lei sold out her first batch of cookies within 45 minutes. The day turned out so well, she was invited back the next day with fellow Girl Scouts.

“When the Girl Scouts set-up shop outside The Green Cross storefront yesterday, little did they know they’d need to call for back-up Girl Scout Cookies after 45 minutes!” the dispensary posted on its Facebook page. “It’s all about location and it’s safe to say this one was a great success.”

Lei’s mother, Carol Lei, said she let her daughter sell cookies outside a pot shop because she wanted her to learn the difference between medical and recreational pot. She said Danielle and her sister, Nikki, have sold biscuits in front of other dispensaries.

“They learn that [patients are] not drugged out,” said Carol Lei. “Many have serious needs and are just a little different.”

The idea to sell cookies at the hungriest spot in town was born of an online humor video that shows Girl Scouts hitting up dispensary customers. The concept has since spread, with a girl in Phoenix selling cookies outside the TruMed Dispensary.

Lexi Menees, 8, sold 50 boxes Feb. 21, a total her father said she couldn’t have matched at a grocery store or other location.

“For me, this isn’t anything controversial,” said Heidi Carney, Menees’ mother. “It’s medication. It’s no different than standing in front of a Walgreens or a CVS.”

As for the Girl Scouts, they have no official position on the matter, though they approved the locations. “We’re not telling people where they can and can’t go if it’s a legitimate business,” said Dana Allen, director of marketing and communications for the Girl Scouts of Northern California.

In Arizona, Susan de Queljoe, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, said the organization wouldn’t encourage girls to sell outside pot shops, but added that the decision is up to parents.

“The girls’ safety is our primary concern,” de Queljoe said. “So we give guidelines out to all the parents and hope that they will follow them.”

Dispensary workers said the choice of locations made perfect sense for the girls.

“It’s no secret that cannabis is a powerful appetite stimulant, so we knew this would be a very beneficial endeavor for the girls,” said Holli Bert, who works at The Green Cross. “It’s all about location, and what better place to sell Girl Scout cookies than outside a medical cannabis collective?”