How a girl scout sold 300 boxes of cookies in six hours
A nine-year-old girl is taking advantage of a new customer base after selling more than 300 boxes of Girl Scout cookies out the front of a legal San Diego marijuana dispensary.
With the help of her dad, she has set up shop outside the pot store taking advantage of customers happy to stock up on cookies in case the munchies set in.
Profits are high since the clever entrepreneur cashed in on the new relaxed Californian law permitting the sale of cannabis for personal use.
Since January 1, anyone aged 21 and over, with a valid government issued, picture ID like a drivers' licence, can lawfully purchase cannabis in California.
Voters late last year approved Proposition 64, a law giving people aged 21 and older the right to possess, grow and purchase recreational cannabis.
The baked goods are in high demand since the young girl began selling the fundraising boxes right outside San Diego's Urban Leaf marijuana dispensary - a state licensed cannabis dispensary.
Her story lit up the internet after Urban Leaf shared a picture of the smart cookie with her hands full of boxes, to its instagram page three days ago.
"Get some Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC today until 4pm! Have a friend that wants to #tagalong? Bring them with - shopping is more fun with friends anyways," read the caption.
The girl's dad told ABC7 in California the pair sold more than 300 boxes in about six hours outside the store last weekeend.
Initially the Girl Scouts of America told the news program it didn't have a problem with the location, as scouts were permitted to sell cookies from carts as long as they had a parent or guardian present.
However, as the girl's entrepreneurship began to create a buzz, the not-for-profit Girl Scouts of America later told the San Diego Union-Tribune it would investigate whether her sales practices were in line with the rules.
Girl Scout cookies are sold by members of the US branches as one of its major fundraisers for local scout units. Scouts have been selling cookies since 1917, and girls who participate can earn prizes for their efforts.
Apparently Girl Scouts can only sell cookies outside a business if it has a permit, and a weed dispensary was not considered a Girl Scout approved site, the organisation’s communications director Mary Doyle, told the newspaper.
The unidentified child isn't the first to hatch the plan. The Colorado Girl Scouts branch was forced to issue a statement in 2014 after a scout reportedly sold more than 100 boxes of cookies in two hours outside a pot dispensary.
"If you are wondering, we don't allow our Girl Scouts to sell cookies in front of marijuana shops or liquor stores/bars," the organisation said previously.
While recreational cannabis shops cannot be within 182 metres of schools, youth centres and daycare centres, apparently nobody is batting an eyelid to the youngster raking it in outside the dispensary.
Using marijuana in public is still illegal in the state of California, and anyone caught can be fined anywhere from US$100 to $250 for smoking in places where tobacco is banned, like restaurants, offices and in front of certain buildings.
