Cookies to pay state $350K for violations on opening day celebration

Matthew Narvaiz, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Updated ·3 min read
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Jul. 19—The cannabis lifestyle brand with a popular dispensary in Albuquerque will pay $350,000 for violations of state regulations during its raucous opening day celebration last November.

The dispensary, Cookies, was charged with five violations by the state's Cannabis Control Division, including one that alleged a minor without a valid medical card was consuming cannabis on the property in photos shot by an Albuquerque Journal photographer.

A spokeswoman for the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, which oversees CCD, wrote in an email that the division "takes underage and onsite consumption very seriously and has levied penalties that are commensurate with the nature of the violations."

"In light of the particular facts and circumstances of this individual case, the licensee's level of cooperation with the division in investigating these violations, and the licensee's willingness to accept responsibility for what occurred and address and remediate the violations, this Settlement Agreement enforces the Cannabis Regulation Act and ensures the protection of the public," Andrea Brown, the spokeswoman, continued.

The charges, and eventual settlement agreement, come as the dispensary located in Martineztown has grown a cult following in the cannabis community in Albuquerque and across the state. It has been, in the months since opening, one of the top performers by sales, according to state data — last month pulling in a combined $812,512 in medical and adult-use sales.

Cookies was founded by the rapper Berner, whose real name is Gilbert Milam, and Bay Area grower Jai Chang as a lifestyle brand in 2010. By 2018, though, the company opened its first dispensary in Los Angeles before opening dozens more in the following years, including in Albuquerque in November 2023.

But the company typically seeks out local operators to do business with, in effect putting the business under local ownership and in return giving those operators access to Cookies' branding and its in-house genetics.

The owner or registered agent of Cookies, according to CCD documents, is Byron Butcher, the operator of Hi Extracts, which produces the popular extracts brand Bloom in New Mexico. An email seeking comment from Butcher was not answered late Friday.

But the violations cited in April also accuse Cookies of promoting overconsumption of cannabis at the dispensary's grand opening last year on its social media channels, allowing for the consumption of cannabis on its property without the proper licensure, allowing for alcohol consumption without the proper licensure, and displaying cannabis outside of the retail area and in the parking lot.

Brown said Cookies owes $10,000 for each violation for a total of $50,000. It also owes an additional $300,000, "which is the approximate amount of revenue the business would have generated in a two-week time period," she said, adding that the "second portion of the fine will be paid in lieu of a suspension of licensure which would have resulted in lost wages for the business's employees." She said the fines collected will be paid into the state's current school fund.

"All violations are reviewed based on the particular facts and circumstances of the individual case; however, the CCD continues to work with all licensees who show willingness and good faith efforts to correct violations and abide by the Cannabis Regulation Act and division rules," she added. "We are hopeful that this licensee recognizes the gravity of the violations and will prevent this type of noncompliant activity from occurring ever again."