SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — In California, we are witnessing the birth of a new industry as the legalization of recreational marijuana rolls out, and a few trailblazing entrepreneurs are already building their empires.

On Friday, as a part of our in-depth series of reports on the cannabis industry, KRON4 profiles one young Bay Area resident who is already a marijuana mogul.

“Taste so good I can’t pass it,” Gilbert Milam Jr raps in one of his music videos. “When I die, I’m smoke my ashes…”

He is a rapper who raps about the weed game. Otherwise known as Berner, Milam doesn’t just rhyme about reefer, he’s a self-described marijuana activist and brand ambassador.

“Someone to take it and grow it….” Berner said.

And he’s not talking about growing the pot plants themselves, but rather growing a marijuana lifestyle brand.

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It’s centered around a particular strain of weed with a tasty name developed by his friends called Girl Scout cookies.

“He was like, ‘Bro this is the one.’ It tastes just like Thin Mint cookies and we tasted it and it was just like wow, truth be told. It did,“ Berner said.

Berner then turned some of his other rapper buddies like Wiz Khalifa onto the strain.

“I brought it to a lot of people to try, Wiz, the Rick Rosses, the Currencies, Alchemist, a lot of people that have influence,” Berner said.

And it blew up.

“Now, it’s one of the biggest strains worldwide….,” Berner said. It’s popping, for sure”

Berner has the original Cookies logo tattooed on his joint smoking hand.

“So when I smoke, people can see it, know what time it is,” Berner said.

He wears a bling-studded letter C around his neck, and in this video, Berner poses with fans in front of that same C logo inside his streetwear clothing store.

And while this is Haight Street and not Sesame Street, C is for Cookies, the shelves are lined with T-shirts, hats, and key chains with the Cookies logo.

They also sell pot-related paraphernalia, including smell-proof backpacks to carry what inspired the line.

This is not a small-time operation, with stores in San Francisco, Seattle, and soon, New York.

The clothing line did $8 million in sales last year.

“Freshest gear around,” Berner said.

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There is a Cookies SF medical marijuana dispensary in the city, and there are five other California cities where patients can buy cookies and cream, animal cookies, and other pot with appetizing names, like sherbet or lemonade.

“This is skittles in here,” Berner said.

But some of those strains have been bootlegged, which is why now he and his partners are licensing the Cookies brand name for those growing authenticated Cookies weed strains, which then can be sold in packages covered in their logo.

“Now, that’s making it real business, right? Until it became legal, that wasn’t an option,” Berner said. “So, we are thinking on how to monetize the hype on Cookies around the world not just here at home.”

But it is not all about the Cookies. Last year, he launched a hemp water line that’s carried in stores like Trader Joes and Whole Foods.

It is vitamin water infused with hemp seed oil, so it has omega-3s, but it won’t get you high because it doesn’t have THC.

“It cures cotton mouth,” Berner said.

Berner is involved in several other businesses, including Weedmaps, an online cannabis directory, and he recently launched his own app where people can rap against each other, called Battle App.

He has got a web documentary series up on Youtube and is working on a movie about the rise of designer weed.

“A lot of people like to say stoners don’t get stuff done,” Berner said. “I work 18-19 hour days.”

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Now the face of a multimillion dollar brand, the San Francisco native, and high school dropout, says he is most excited about inspiring others.

“The coolest thing about what I do is that people come up and tell me you motivate me, you give me the motivation to do my thing, either switch the lifestyle I’m living and go legit, and/or put my own money into my business or my dreams,” Berner said.

While the future of cannabis legalization is hazy, it’s clear Berner is blazing a trail for other entrepreneurs.

Only time will tell how high he and his fellow pot business pioneers will ascend.