State Girl Scouts will allow sales outside pot shops

It’s a pairing as natural as milk and cookies, or beer and pretzels. The Girls Scouts of Colorado have decided it’s now cool to peddle their baked goods outside marijuana dispensaries.

Munchies, meet Thin Mints, Tagalongs and Samoas.

Girl Scouts of Colorado updated their policy for the 2018 cookie season to treat “adult-oriented” businesses such as marijuana dispensaries the same as any other business, council spokeswoman AnneMarie Harper told The Denver Post on Friday.

All proposals for sales at any site, including adultoriented sites, must be approved by Girl Scouts of Colorado, Harper said.

Potential cookie sales “sites are now all treated the same, and approval of those sites is contingent on whether they meet our guidelines and safety requirements,” she said. “Safety is the biggest concern.”

Safety factors considered include the location of the business and the distance Scouts will be positioned from parking lots and roadways, Harper said. The council also makes sure Girl Scouts have the permission of both the business owner and the property owner.

The state’s Girl Scout Cookie Locator lists sales sites that have been approved by Girl Scouts of Colorado, Harper said. This weekend’s listings include bars, a tattoo parlor, coffee shops and a Lakewood marijuana dispensary.

“Decisions regarding where, when and under what circumstances girls can sell Girl Scout Cookies are made by troop leaders, with guidance and oversight from local Girl Scout councils,” Girl Scouts of the USA officials said in a statement emailed to The Post. “Local councils and leaders are best situated to set safety parameters in keeping with the well being of girls engaging in the cookie sale in their communities.”

Until this year, Girl Scouts of Colorado’s policy forbade sales outside adult-oriented businesses such as liquor stores, casinos or marijuana dispensaries.

The new policy gives more control to leaders, parents and Scouts within each troop, Harper said.

“We think the new policy empowers scouts to be the best cookie entrepreneurs they can be,” she said.