Following the leads of fellow CelebStoner dispensary owners B-Real and Berner, Woody Harrelson opened The Woods in West Hollywood with the help of Bill Maher on Friday, May 13.
Six years ago, Harrelson, who lives on Maui, made his first stab at being a dispensary owner, but the state's medical program turned him down.
Harrelson also has a home in Los Angeles as does Maher. They now have a canna-base in the heart of La La Land.
Harrelson told High Times:
“My friend and partner Samba (Devon Wheeler) – he has three Erba dispensaries - was talking to me, ‘You know, you should do it.’ I was like ‘I don’t know, what if the Feds decide to crack down? What do you do?’ It just depends on how aggro the administration is. So, it just felt a little bit too dicey. Then, he convinced me and we started looking at places years ago. A place on Sunset, here and there, Malibu, everywhere. I came and saw this place with him and I’m like this is the most beautiful place. I went and I hung out in the back area – that’s not actually open yet. It has a koi pond and tropical plants.”
The plan is to convert the back patio into a consumption lounge. Harrelson and his two partners, Wheeler and Jay Handal (they own Erba), hope to receive approval from the city and state in the next few years. Maher is an investor in The Woods.
"I want to make Hollywood citizens a little bit higher," Harrelson said to the attendees. "This is the greatest day I've had in a long time."
The Hunger Games actor prefers sun-grown cannabis to indoor. "Outdoor is really getting the short shrift these days because you can buy a pound for $300," he recently told LA Weekly. "It’s not paying off the same way the indoor is. I’d like to see a change. Outdoor organic is amazing. That’s where all of us should be putting our sights. The outdoor organic herb should be the creme de la creme. I mean, assuming it’s a good herb... If the element of the sun is missing, which it is with indoor herb, I’m just not interested in that."
That doesn't mean The Woods isn't stocked with indoor cultivars.
"We’re going to carry that at The Woods because I don’t want to, certainly in the beginning, alienate any potential customers," he explained. "But my dream is to promote and to help people see the sensibility in sun-drenched herb, because I feel like you want that sun energy."
Asked about celebrity friends who might visit his pot shop, Harrelson mentioned Matthew McConaughey to Forbes: "I hope he comes to The Woods sooner or later. He doesn’t puff a lot. But I think he’ll like the space."
As far as acting, Harrelson appeared in a 2021 Curb Your Enthusiasm episode and voices the Freewheelin' Freddie character in The Freak Brothers animated series on Tubi. He stars in Triangle of Sadness, which is debuting at the Cannes Film Festival.
