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Editor’s Note: The Impact Issue, June 2026

'Of all the celebrities I’ve met, Harrelson was the warmest [and] most genuine.'

Photo by Roger Kisby

Thanks for picking up The Impact Issue of the Leaf!

This month, I had the honor of interviewing Woody Harrelson, who is our cover feature story, inside his beautiful Ganja Giggle Garden off Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Being a fan of weed, film and Harrelson my entire adult life made the interview all the more special. We chatted about acting, activism and why organic sun-grown Cannabis deserves a place on every top shelf.

Heading into The Woods starts as a luxury dispensary experience. Entering the store reveals living trees growing through the floor, earth tones with wood and glass displays and Cannabis on every available shelf. After shopping for all the weed needs and hitting the prominent sun-grown display, a few steps toward the back reveal a tropical oasis complete with birds of paradise, a flowing koi pond and friendly faces smoking everywhere.

We arrived before Harrelson for the interview, giving us time to indulge in the sensory experience of a stoner jungle. Once in the lounge, the sounds of the city disappear, replaced by bird calls and the gentle coughs of fellow smokers. There’s seating all over, a walk-up bar serving chilled infused beverages and a full coffee shop on-site. As we roamed and toked, I saw a diverse audience of industry professionals taking meetings, tourist stoners and locals enjoying a quick tropical vacation before continuing about their day. Far from a smoky bar scene, The Woods has the purest of stoner vibes, and I’d smoke there every day if I lived in Los Angeles — just like Harrelson does when he’s in town.

The interview took place inside one of several treehouse cabanas that you can rent hourly, the same cabana where Harrelson and Bill Maher filmed a smoky episode of the “Club Random” podcast. We shared the space comfortably, and Harrelson made the first statement of the interview, which isn’t in the main article. “You must have had a hell of a time explaining to your parents why you dropped out of college to start a weed magazine,” he said before a big chuckle, which set the tone for our conversation. He also asked about my faith in God, as I wore my cross on set, and he listened to my belief that Cannabis is a gift from God, along with our endocannabinoid system.

Of all the celebrities I’ve met, Harrelson was the warmest, most genuine and certainly the only one to build a lounge where, as he put it, “I’d like to go myself as a stoner.” I left our interview with more respect and admiration for a man whose career I already characterized as deserving of a lifetime achievement award in Cannabis. I’m honored to have him on the cover of this magazine.

Like Harrelson, the Leaf team cares about the culture of Cannabis, which starts and ends with our community. I hope that this story and issue will be shared with those on the fence about Cannabis. That way, we can truly work to “love thy neighbor,” as it says in the Bible, while we connect and share the truth and the plant that we all love and benefit from.

Read the June 2026 Impact Issue!

About Wes Abney

Wes Abney is the founder and CEO of the Leaf Nation brand family, which began in 2010 as Northwest Leaf magazine. Recognized as the first Cannabis publication in the region, Northwest Leaf defined and developed the medical and recreational Cannabis communities in Washington with free publications focused on quality content and truthful journalism. The model’s success has led to Oregon Leaf in 2014, Alaska Leaf in 2016, Maryland Leaf in 2019, California Leaf in Spring of 2020, and Northeast Leaf in Fall of 2020. Wes’s writing and publishing background began with his college newspaper, The Ebbtide, which included a love for multimedia and creating content on many platforms. The nickname “Bearded Lorax” came after years of publishing millions of free magazines, using his voice to speak for a plant and those that benefit from it. Wes is an activist not only for Cannabis but for alternative medicine treatments, ending the drug war and freeing prisoners who have been wrongfully incarcerated for non-violent crimes. His passion for reaching people with written and spoken words led to the concept of Leaf Life Podcast in partnership with Mike Ricker, which began development in 2018 and launched in January 2019. With the combined passions of Cannabis and a love for broadcasting, the creation of Leaf Life was a natural progression for Leaf Nation as it spread roots across the United States. With over 100 shows recorded, and printing over 100,000 monthly copies, Leaf Nation has become the world’s largest Cannabis media company, while still celebrating the humble roots and truthful journalism that the model was founded upon. Beyond leading a team of 40+ passionate Cannabis creatives, Wes is the father to two beautiful daughters and two furry cats. He lives in Seattle, drinks coffee, and enjoys Cannabis daily, and hopes to eventually transition from a successful Cannabis journalist to a classic coffee shop author as the Leaf continues to grow in the coming decades. In true Lorax fashion, he enjoys hikes in the forest, communing with nature, and reminding people that “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

This article was originally published in the June 2026 issue of All Magazines.

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