At Friday’s grand opening of The Woods cannabis consumption lounge, Woody Harrelson, actor and cannabis entrepreneur, there was a happy vibe. The newly renovated storefront, located in West Hollywood in California, is the first in a series of new consumption facilities that will open over the next two-years.

“It’s the most auspicious day, which is why we did it today,” Harrelson told Chronic News. The years-long effort that led finally to Santa Monica Boulevard’s sunlit area was explained by him.

“It was years even before that because my friend and partner Samba (dispensary owner Devon “Samba” Wheeler)—he has now three dispensaries, ERBA Markets—anyway, he was a good friend of mine even before he went off into that stuff, and he was talking to me, ‘You know, you should do it.’

“And 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. This felt just a bit dicey. Then, he convinced me and we started looking at places—years ago, we started looking. There are many places on Sunset. 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, tropical plants.”

The new lounge’s showroom is white with exposed brick and beams, lots of wood (of course), and large enough to accommodate a throng of event attendees. Officially opening the doors was done by Lauren Meister (Mayor of West Hollywood) who also presented a Certificate Of Welcome from West Hollywood. Several city officials also were there, along with media, and cannabis industry insiders, some of them in Los Angeles to attend this weekend’s Emerald Cup event. Harrelson will be a judge.

Harrelson, a long-standing advocate for cannabis legalization, said that he will continue to support it at the federal level as well as legal reforms. This is especially important for cannabis criminals currently in prison.

“If advocacy means shooting my mouth off, then I’m going to continue to do that,” Harrelson said.

“It’s absurd,” he continued. “There are these things called consensual crimes, or victimless crimes, and those are the crimes that don’t hurt anybody other than the person perpetrating the crime, right? Like gambling, drugs, prostitution. To me, if you’re not hurting someone else or their property, you should be able to do whatever the hell you want. I’m not condoning gambling or drugs or anything—I’m just saying, in a real, free society that pretty much should be the definition. The government tries to say, ‘We’re going to put you in jail,’ which they have done for so many years, ‘because you like marijuana.’ That’s pretty absurd and I think it’s pretty much of an overreach.”