The history of Forum Cookies

Timeline

1. Around 1994A friend of the future Cookie Family brings a Kush to San Francisco; it later becomes GSC’s Kush parent, the group told High Times.⁴
2. Early 2000sThe rapper Berner befriends the cultivator Jai “Jigga” Chang, according to Wikipedia.⁵
3. Around 2007Jigga crosses his F1 Durb with a Flo Rida OG to make Girl Scout Cookies, in Leafly’s timeline; Prime Cuts Nursery dates it to around 2007–2008 in San Francisco’s Sunset District.^1,6
4. 2008Two friends of the grower Ghost pay $3,500 for a Cookies cut; Ghost grows it out, gives cuttings to four friends, and the cut, later named the Forum Cut after the internet forums where growers debated it, spreads across California and to the UK.¹
5. 2010Jigga and Berner start Cookies Enterprises, per Leafly’s timeline.¹
6. Around 2011–2012High Times later wrote that GSC first appeared circa 2011; Weedmaps says it emerged from Northern California’s Cookie Family around 2012.^2,7
7. 2012A Pink Panties male accidentally pollinates a room of GSC females, producing Sunset Sherbert.¹
8. 2013GSC wins Best Indica at the NorCal Cannabis Cup, per Leafly; Weedmaps credits it with first place for Best Hybrid at the High Times Southern California Cannabis Cup.^1,2
9. Feb 2014High Times profiles the Cookie Family, Jigga, Flux and Mr. Sherbinski, who say that rather than selling seeds they want Cookies to be a more intimate experience for growers.⁴
10. 2014Sunset Sherbert crossed back to GSC gives Gelato, and Thin Mint Cookies wins Best Hybrid at the NorCal Medical Cannabis Cup.¹
11. 2015Berner opens the first Cookies clothing store in San Francisco.⁵
12. 2015–2024The 81 state lab tests of Forum Cookies flower in our dataset date from these years, 40 of them from 2018–2019.⁸
13. 2026Leafly’s list of the 100 best strains says GSC “took the throne from OG Kush to usher in the dessert strain era.”³
14. Oct 4, 2026Weedmaps shows Forum Cookies flower at 39 store listings in 8 of 27 US markets.⁹

Why it spread

It spread because it was shared: Leafly’s genealogy describes Ghost’s four cuttings multiplying as friends sold some and gave others away, and quotes him: “If it’s not available, people can’t see it.”¹ Berner gets the credit for marketing Cookies, first through hip-hop and later through social media, and an Oakland dispensary owner told Leafly it was the first cannabis strain mentioned relentlessly in hip-hop.¹ Mr. Sherbinski recalled: “If you were a dispensary back then that didn’t have Cookies, you weren’t a dispensary.”¹

The names

GSC began as Girl Scout Cookies: Weedmaps says it was originally known by that name, and Leafly lists it as GSC, also known as Girl Scout Cookies or simply Cookies.^2,10 Wikipedia says that after a cease-and-desist letter, Berner and Chang named their brand simply Cookies.⁵ The Forum part comes from the internet forums where growers debated Ghost’s cut; CannabisBlog.eu names the forum as ICMag, where Weedmaps and SeedFinder say the cut was shared.^1,11,12,13

The disputed parts of the story

• Where the cut came from: Leafly’s genealogy says it was bought from a relative of a grower in the original Cookies circle; the account SeedFinder repeats says it grew from a bagseed in Emeryville, and Weedmaps says only that it is said to come from Emeryville.^1,11,12,13
• When GSC was made: around 2007 (Leafly’s timeline), the late 2000s (Leafly’s text), circa 2011 (High Times, 2014) or around 2012 (Weedmaps).^1,2,7
• Parents: OG Kush × F1 Durb by most accounts, with Durban Poison × Cherry Kush and OG Kush × Cherry Pie as alternatives (see genetics).^7,10,12
• Awards: Leafly’s genealogy lists Best Indica at the 2013 NorCal Cannabis Cup and Weedmaps Best Hybrid at the 2013 High Times Southern California Cannabis Cup; we did not check either against the events’ own results.^1,2