A nine-year-old Canadian girl scout has struck gold after setting up a cookie stall outside a new cannabis dispensary in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
In just 45 minutes - Elina Childs managed to sell $120 worth of baked treats on the first day of cannabis legalisation in Canada - completely emptying all her stock.
Elina's father, Seann Childs, helped his mini-entrepreneur fill up a wagon with Girl Scouts cookies, which the youngster then flogged to those queuing outside the dispensary.
Some people had reportedly been waiting in line for up to four hours, and Elina's cookies proved to be an sweet diversion.
Speaking to CNN, Elina's father, Sean, explained that his daughter used to sell cookies door-to-door - a process which could take weeks: "Last year, she got bit by a dog, it wasn’t bad but we were still apprehensive."
While driving, we saw how long the lines were at the dispensary, and we just stopped to sell the cookies there," he continued. "She didn’t quite understand what the big deal was, She was just selling cookies in her mind, but everyone was so happy to see her, and kept congratulating her."
Young Elina isn't the only person to profit from Canada's recent legalisation of cannabis. The country purportedly brought in an eye-watering $3 million on the first day of sales alone.
This change in policy runs in accordance to the 2015 campaign promise made by Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who has consistently argued that previous drug regulations have been ineffective. He hopes that the legalisation of cannabis will not only prevent minors from dabbling, but will also prevent criminal gangs from turning over a profit.
"We will remove marijuana consumption and incidental possession from the Criminal Code, and create new, stronger laws to punish more severely those who provide it to minors, those who operate a motor vehicle while under its influence, and those who sell it outside of the new regulatory framework," reads the liberal party website.
"We will create a federal/provincial/territorial task force, and with input from experts in public health, substance abuse, and law enforcement, will design a new system of strict marijuana sales and distribution, with appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes applied."
Trudeau's recent move has been criticised by some, however, with Ontario's premier, Doug Ford, arguing that law enforcement have not been adequately prepped to screen drivers for drug-impaired driving.
"It was three years ago Justin Trudeau campaigned on legalizing cannabis. Three years later, the federal government still cannot give our police a single reliable piece of equipment to test for drug-impaired driving," Ford said during a speech before the Ontario Provincial Police Association.
"This is deeply concerning. And make no mistake, by rushing legal cannabis out of the door before ensuring police have the tools they need, the Trudeau Liberals are putting people at risk."
Whatever your views on legalising cannabis, you can't deny that Elina has some serious business chops about her.
