Woody Harrelson’s dispensary reviewed: The Woods has the goods

When an A-List actor like Woody Harrelson opens up a weed dispensary in a posh part of Los Angeles, you gotta go scope it out.

We’re here to report back that the rustic, outdoorsy, The Woods champions artisanal, craft sungrown flower to locals in each price bracket. It’s kind of the perfect fit for Harrelson, who has spent decades advocating weed legalization, criminal justice reform, and environmentalism. Humboldt hippies helped make California cannabis the best in the world. The Woods hopes LA folks will pay fair-trade prices to see these farmers survive the high taxes and red tape of legal weed.

The Woods backstory

Opened May 16 just off Melrose Avenue in the northern part of LA, The Woods is a project of Harrelson and the owner of the Erba dispensary chain. 

Harrelson has supported weed law reform since at least 1996 when he got arrested for symbolically planting hemp in Texas. Cannabis went legal in California in 2016, and stores opened in 2018. Four years later, Harrelson’s team converted an interior design store into a chic sungrown boutique that embodies the actor’s values. 

The Woods vibe up close

Walking up to the store you are greeted by a concrete horse next to a large, intimidatingly ornate wooden door. The shop has kept many of the pieces of its former resident, hence the horse. It’s bougie. This is West Hollywood, people.

Walking inside, the store manages to give more of a high-end furniture store feel rather than a dispensary. But details throughout invite inspection and browsing. That’s not typical for dispensaries that often hide product behind the counter and have limited informational resources.

The Woods has plenty of plant life throughout and is abundantly lit by a skylight, so it has a fresh, open feel.

The abundance of houseplants creates a fresh, herbal smell in the air. Absent birds, you instead hear the chirping of local passersby, since the large front door stays invitingly propped open.

Display cases all throughout the space show off brands and their products for perusal. Certain cases focus on categories like edibles, or pre-rolls. The clientele’s favorite? Staff said edibles.

You can also buy an entire wall’s worth of award-winners from the world’s largest outdoor pot contest The Emerald Cup. The awards show took place for the first time in Hollywood this year and coincided with the opening of The Woods. Several awardees of the Emerald Cup donated their trophy to the display in The Woods. The display encourages shoppers to buy organic, sun-grown cannabis and to support the legacy farmers in the state.

“Support Your Local Weed Farmer,” the merch reads. On the wall—framed, historic photos of cannabis farms from times past. A mural painted by a local artist covers the back wall and carries through the long hallway that will eventually lead to a smoking lounge. In the hallway, a gallery of NFT art by people imprisoned for weed cycles through on digital screens.

In one corner, you can sit down and look into a dozen little branded, weed farm dioramas. It’s not the easiest display to browse, but it does encourage close inspection.

The chill vibes continued with the friendly budtenders who’ll explain sun-grown organic cannabis’ benefits, the impacts of the War on Drugs, or the plight of legacy farmers in today’s market.

What’s on The Woods’ menu?

The spacious store fosters browsing, with a decent-sized, well-curated selection. We saw 155 flowers on the menu. Los Angelenos are hooked on indoor flavors, and outdoor has a tough time penetrating the concrete jungle. The Woods stands out with Emerald Triangle brands not usually available this far south:

• Rebel Grown (get the Cup-winner Double OG Chem)
• Emerald Spirit Botanicals (get the Farm Cut 7-gram jars of Pink Boost Goddess)
• Ridgeline Farms (get the LANTZ)
• Sol Spirit Farm
• Huckleberry Hill Farms (get the Whitethorn Rose)
• Dry Farmed Cannabis
• Moon Made
• Sonoma Hills Farm
• Farm Cut (get the quarter-ounce jars)
• Garcia Hand Picked
• Down Om Farms (the Chewmdog is fire)
• Happy Day Farms
• Trinitrees Farm
• Canna Country Farms
• Redwood Roots
• Willie’s Reserve
• One Straw Farm Organics
• Talking Trees
• and Brother David’s (terpy, bargain eighths)

Woody also made concessions to LA’s indoor exotic pot culture. We see tasty new flavors from:

• 710 Labs
• Alien Labs
• Cannabiotix
• Cream of the Crop
• Connected
• LitHouse

Typically, you can expect lower prices on outdoor weed, and eighths of outs top out at $41 plus taxes at The Woods. Better quality weed should be worth more, The Woods believes, and consequently, some of their outdoor prices rival indoor.

In the future, the store will be one of a cluster of related businesses: a bar, a smoking lounge, and a dispensary. Each will have separate entrances and requirements, and it sounds like the bar and lounge will be very upscale.

I admit I’m not the typical client of a store like The Woods. I prefer a dispensary connected to a different facet of LA culture—the Backpack Boyz, Dr. Greenthumbs, Cookies, Sherbinskis, and Greenwolfs of LA. But Woody’s chic Woods gives WeHoans the chance to put their money where their values lie—starting with sungrown, organic top-shelf from small, legacy NorCal hippies.