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Woody Harrelson? Wants ?Medical Cannabis/Marijuana Dispensary In Hawaii

By Stephen Jordan
Published on: 05:59 PST, Feb 6, 2016

Actor Woody Harrelson loves marijuana, that’s nothing new, but the Hunger Games actor recently revealed he’s applied to open one of the first medical cannabis dispensaries in Hawaii. Considering that the state was the first to legalize marijuana 16 years ago, Hawaii seems like the appropriate location for one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Woody Harrelson, a long time marijuana/cannabis advocate, was only one of over 60 applicants to apply. Harrelson applied for a license under his company, Simple Organic Living, in Honolulu County. The Hawaii Department of Health will award applicants with dispensary permits in April, once they have gone through all of the applications. The medical cannabis dispensaries will officially open in July.

Woody Harrelson is lucky he has had a successful acting career, since $1 million is needed before one can apply for a license, as well as $100,000 for each of the dispensary locations. If Harrelson has his application accepted, he will be among a small club of medical marijuana business owners – since the state of Hawaii will only allow for eight licenses, ever since 2015.

One of the many times Woody Harrelson made his feelings on marijuana clear was in 2008, speaking with Esquire.

“…Marijuana’s about marijuana. That’s consensual, victimless crime. That’s saying, I think I should have the freedom to do whatever the hell I want to do if I’m living in a so-called free country, as long as I’m not hurting someone else. That’s freedom. If I’m gonna hit myself in the head with a hammer, so be it. That’s freedom.”

The head of the Department of Health Office and Health Care Assurance will not allow any further information regarding the other competitors to be made public. Although, one of them is video game entrepreneur Henk Rogers, who is famous for his classic Tetris game. Rogers applied for a medical cannabis dispensary license under his company, Blue Planet Foundation, known for energy freedom advocation. Dirk Fukushima’s name was also on the list of applicants, who is a producer of the local television show Hawaii Stars.

“I think that it’s absurd that you throw people in jail for smoking a joint when alcohol is more destructive,” Woody said in 2002 during an interview with Independent.

Woody Harrelson’s desire to grow weed in the state of Hawaii could influence other states to give it a try, as well. Certainly, if this venture proves to be a serious money-maker, it would not at all be surprising to see other states in America making preparations to follow in the same footsteps. But even in the state of Hawaii, there are a lot of people competing for those eight licenses. The competition could be hard for Harrelson.

In Oahu alone, there were a total of 32 companies that requested just three dispensary licenses. Five applications, for just one license, were filed in Kauai. Also, 15 different companies submitted their application for two licenses in Maui. And 14 companies applied for two dispensary licenses in Big Island.

Woody Harrelson, along with being a long time marijuana advocate, considers himself an ethical vegan and raw foodist, as well as being an advocate for legalizing hemp. The actor has also served as a member on the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) advisory board since 2003. It is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. In February of 2010, the company created a 15-second television ad, aimed to educate viewers the potential financial and economic benefit of legalizing marijuana.

CBS deemed the ad to be “too political,” which drew plenty of criticism on blogs and on twitter. People pointed out the fact that CBS aired an anti-abortion during the Super Bowl in 2010, making their criticism of the NORML ad hypocritical.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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