BATON ROUGE – Traffic was backed up on both O'Neal Lane and Exit 7 on westbound Interstate 12 Friday morning as a line of hundreds of cars formed in anticipation of the opening of a new medical marijuana dispensary.

Lines formed around the corner and about 2,000 people gathered in the parking lot of the neighboring AMC Baton Rouge 16 movie theater to legally purchase marijuana or discounted health insurance cards at the new Cookies dispensary at 1940 O'Neal Lane.

The store opened Friday in partnership with Capitol Wellness Solutions, the only legal marijuana distributor in Baton Rouge. Cookies is an internationally recognized brand in the medical cannabis sales space. The Baton Rouge store brings Cookies' total to 77 locations worldwide.

The company was founded in 2010 by Billboard chart-topping rapper and entrepreneur Berner, who attended the opening of the O'Neal Lane store with a DJ and retail tents.

“We want to be wherever markets open up,” said Berner, whose real name is Gilbert Milam Jr. “It made perfect sense to continue doing this.”

Doctors also took part in the grand opening event, which began at 10 a.m. Capitol Wellness issues health insurance cards for people with conditions such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain and insomnia at a discounted rate of $25, Capitol Wellness said. The average price for a health insurance card is $49, according to Capitol Wellness CEO Randy Mire.

Mire, who founded Capitol Wellness in 2019 as the state's first dispensary, said medical marijuana can be a safe alternative to painkillers and sleeping pills, adding that smoking is not the only way to feel the effects.

“Many people want to smoke because of the effects. When they use an e-cigarette device, they can relieve their anxiety so quickly and get a good night's sleep. But we have some patients who say we don't want to do that, we just want to take a gummy bear before bed,” Mire said.

As of August 2020, any Louisiana-licensed physician in good standing with the state Board of Medical Examiners can recommend medical marijuana to their patients. Mire said it's easy to apply for a card even after the fact and directed potential clients to her website.

“I like how he wants to continually raise awareness about the medical marijuana program. It was a big deal for Louisiana to be able to educate patients and show them that a brand they know is joining the program,” Mire said.

All products in the store will contain marijuana grown at Good Day Farms, which operates operations in Ruston and Baton Rouge. A recently signed law reassigned the state's two licenses to grow medical marijuana and awarded them to two private growers, including Good Day.

For most of the industry's history, medical marijuana in Louisiana was grown exclusively at LSU and Southern University in partnership with these private companies.

Capital Wellness' partnership with the brand will expand medical marijuana distribution in Baton Rouge to a second location. Capital Wellness operates another dispensary on Picardy Avenue. A third Capitol Wellness location is slated to open in Gonzales on Airline Highway.