Girl Scout leaders say they were wrongly prohibited from selling near marijuana store
A representative of Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan reportedly put the kibosh on cookie sales outside a marijuana store in Walled Lake — a move some say is nonsensical and which crushes entrepreneurial spirit that the organization is supposed to encourage in its young members.
And despite troop leaders standing beside their claim, GSSEM insists that it has no information on the proposed selling site or the troop in question, and no policy prohibiting such sales.
The issue involves a troop of Oakland County Girl Scouts who had planned for a successful two days of fundraising with cookie sales March 5 and 6 near Greenhouse, a popular cannabis and CBD shop at the corner of Pontiac Trail and Maple Road. They’d be following the lead of another troop which sold more than 1,000 boxes of cookies in six hours outside Greenhouse last week after owner Jerry Millen answered the call to allow them to set up shop near his store.
But on March 4, GSA snuffed out the plan, Millen said, telling the troop leaders that they’d have to conduct sales elsewhere.
“It’s absurd, “Millen said. “They just pulled the rug from underneath them.”
The troop leader, who asked not to be identified, said a representative from GSSEM specifically told her the scouts could
not sell cookies anywhere near Greenhouse because of the products it carries. But there’s nothing in the scout handbook that indicates setting up a cookie selling station near a licensed marijuana dispensary isn’t permitted, she said. She also said the only reason to inform the organization about where a troop is selling cookies is to have it included in its cookie finder listing, which she said wasn’t needed.
The Oakland Press contacted the representative who purportedly said no to the sales, but didn’t hear back by press time. She’s listed as a community contact and troop support specialist for the organization.
According to Millen, the
troop leader said she was told by “the powers that be” that the scouts aren’t permitted to sell cookies outside any business that they can’t go into — but that simply isn’t the case at Greenhouse. Anyone, no matter their age, who has a medical marijuana card can shop at Greenhouse. The store also sells CBD products that have no age restrictions, he said.
What’s more, the scouts weren’t even going to be on his property. Rather, they were to be stationed on the sidewalk, which is public property, Millen said.
“To me, this isn’t fair to the girls. The Girl Scouts are supposed to support entrepreneurship and thinking outside the box,” he said. This is antiquated thinking by an organization that is supposed to empower girls.
“They’re treating this like (marijuana) is still illegal —
and it’s not. Their thinking is ‘old school,’ and they need to get into 2021.”
‘Rules don’t apply to everyone’
When asked for comment, GSSEM issued this statement to the Oakland Press on March 5: “Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan (GSSEM) does not have a policy prohibiting troops from selling cookies at or near any legally operating business. The national Girl Scouts organization, Girl Scouts of the USA, does discourage troops from selling at locations where the girls cannot legally enter, however, there is no policy prohibiting selling at such businesses.
GSSEM troops are allowed to set up booth selling dates on their own without approval from GSSEM. In this case, GSSEM has no
information regarding this booth or the troop as they did not register the booth date with our cookie locator system. Again this is not a required action. We do hope the troop will contact us as soon as possible so that we can assist.”
Amanda Thomas, GSEEM vice president of customer care, reiterated that the organization “has no policy prohibiting where cookies sales happen.”
“If another volunteer said that, I encourage the troop leaders to reach out to us so we can clarify that we have no problem (with selling cookies outside a licensed marijuana store).”
Jennifer Slayden is coleader of the Girl Scout troop that was reportedly told no sales would be allowed near Greenhouse. She sees a lack of consistency in the regulations, she said, and that line of
thinking is teaching the girls “rules don’t apply to everyone,” and that’s simply not right.
“It’s got to be the same for everyone,” Slayden said.
Millen said he’s going to make up for the lost sales by purchasing 300 boxes himself and then sharing.
“I just don’t understand. Greenhouse sells legal products, “he said. “So where are they drawing the line?”
The troop leader said she may reach out to GSSEM in coming days, yet she and her scouts likely missed out on tremendous cookie sales March 5 and 6 as planned. And what started out as a simple fundraiser evolved into a controversy she never envisioned.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “All we wanted to do was raise money for horse camp. It’s just cookies, you know?”