Satisfying your hunger has never been easier.
Artisanal cookie shops are popping up all over New York City, with more than a dozen opening since the state allowed marijuana to be legalized in 2021, with more on the way.
Oriana Molina Garcia of Manhattan bakery Oriana’s Cookies said she’s seen high-settled customers at farmers markets say “‘Oh, I’m hungry now. This would be the perfect way to end it.'”
“I’m off to smoke a cigarette and this will be the perfect thing to satisfy my hunger afterwards,” she recalled one customer confessing.
Residents of legalized states use marijuana 24% increase More people in the U.S. suffer from drug addiction than people living in states where it remains illegal, according to August 2022 data from Addiction magazine, which publishes peer-reviewed research and reports on substance and behavioral addictions.
Naturally, this will increase the number of times you feel like eating snacks.
The great thing about cookies is that bakers can “literally make any flavor,” said Garcia, who has made cookies with Hot Cheetos. “I’m inspired by cupcake flavors, cake flavors, ice cream flavors, chip flavors.”
Cookies and cannabis have always complemented each other.
Insomnia Cookies has known for decades: Most of the chain’s locations stay open until 2:45 a.m.
Even employees of legal cannabis stores are consuming the treat in large quantities, including staff at Verdi Cannabis in Chelsea, a legal cannabis store near Crumble Cookies.
“We eat their cookies all the time,” cannabis store owner Ellis Sudak said.
Regina Smith, co-owner of The Plant, a dispensary in Yonkers, and Small Cakes New York, a cupcake and cookie shop in Scarsdale, said she loves cookies in general, but especially when she’s high.
“I have a sweet tooth,” says Smith, who adds that her favorite is Small Cakes New York chocolate chip cookies.
Smith and her husband try to keep the two businesses separate so there is minimal overlap between the two, but about 15 customers at the bakery knew that Smith also owned and shopped at the cannabis store.
It’s the perfect “easy dessert,” says Sophia Demetriou, president of Long Island-based Duchess Cookies, which is considering reopening in New York City.
Perfect for marijuana lovers, especially those on the go.
“It’s mess-free,” Demetriou said. “There’s really no packaging. There’s no spoons.”
Four cookie shops have opened so far this year, including Levain Bakery in the Flatiron District and two Insomnia Cookies locations in Penn Station and the Bronx. Crumble Cookies opened in West Brighton on Staten Island in June.
Additional reporting by Claire Samstag.
