Actor Woody Harrelson Among Farmers, Lawyers and Others Looking to Open Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Hawai‘i

Nearly 60 applicants applied to open one of Hawai‘i’s first medical marijuana dispensaries.

Actor Woody Harrelson is one of 59 applicants looking to grow and sell medical marijuana in Hawai‘i, according to the Hawai‘i State Department of Health.

Under the new law, the state Health Department can award a total of eight licenses statewide: three in the City and County of Honolulu, two each for Hawai‘i County and Maui County and one dispensary on Kaua‘i.

Harrelson, who has been nominated for two Academy Awards (The People vs. Larry Flynt and The Messenger) starred in the popular first season of the HBO series True Detective and in The Hunger Games. His movie credits include: Zombieland and No Country for Old Men.

He and his wife maintain a home on Maui, but he has applied for a license in Honolulu under the entity Simple Organic Living LLC and his full name of Woodrow Harrelson.

Entrepreneur Henk Rogers, famous for the spread of the Tetris game, has applied as Blue Planet Healing LLC in Honolulu.

Big Island’s Richard Ha recently announced he was shutting down his banana and tomato farming operations. He has applied under the entity Lau Ola LLC for Hawai‘i Island.

Kim chee king Michael Irish, a local businessman known for diverse interests that include Halm’s Kim Chee, has applied as Hawaiian Isles Marijuana LLC.

Others on the list include prominent attorney and former city budget director Ivan Lui-Kwan, former St. Francis Healthcare executive Eugene Tiwanak and attorney Lex Smith, who previously served as Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s campaign chairman. The list includes doctors, attorneys, entrepreneurs, business owners, people from nearly every occupation.

Several companies applied in various counties for the total list is 66 entities; with the most competition in Honolulu, with 32 entities trying for three licenses; 15 on Maui for two licenses; 14 on Hawai‘i Island for two licenses; and five on Kaua‘i for one. 

Each dispensary licensee will be allowed to operate up to two production centers and two retail-dispensing locations. 

Keith Ridley, chief of the Health Department’s Office of Health Care Assurance, indicated that the posting of the names was all the public information that his office would release at this time. “All other information on dispensary applications is confidential as we move into the evaluation and selection process,” he said in a statement.

That process is expected to take two months, with the department selecting and announcing the successful licensees by April 15. The soonest a licensed dispensary could begin dispensing legal medical marijuana would be July 15.

Medical Marijuana Dispensary Applicants 

• 11th Street Partners, LLC — Benjamin Partyka, County of Hawai‘i

• 11th Street Partners, LLC — Benjamin Partyka, County of Kaua‘i

• 2020 Solutions Maui, LLC — Craig Hill, County of Maui

• Aloha Compassionate Care LLC — Barry Worchel, City & County of Honolulu 

• Aloha Compassionate Care LLC — Barry Worchel, County of Hawai‘i

• Aloha Compassionate Care LLC — Barry Worchel, County of Maui

• Aloha Green Holdings Inc. — Thomas Wong, City & County of Honolulu  

• Big Island Compassion Solutions LLC — Henry Correa Jr., County of Hawai‘i 

• Blue Planet Healing, LLC — Henk Rogers, City & County of Honolulu 

• BRIDGE INTL INC — Melvin Chiogioji, City & County of Honolulu 

• ​CC Vet Services — Christopher Cole, City & County of Honolulu 

• Delta 11 Hawai‘i Inc. — Denim Cretton, County of Hawai‘i

• EYE CENTER OF HAWAI‘I LLC — Michael Bennett, City & County of Honolulu

• Grateful Meds LLC —Donald Shearer, County of Maui 

• Green Aloha, Ltd. — Justin Britt, County of Kaua‘i

• Green Leaf Group, LLC d/b/a Hawaiian GreenLeaf Company, LLC — Jason Bullard

• Green Leaf Medicine, LLC — Dirk Fukushima, City & County of Honolulu 

• Hale O Laulima, LLC — Eugene Tiwanak, City & County of Honolulu  

• HANU MAKA AINA, LLC — Yale Ecklund, County of Hawai‘i 

• Hawai‘i Agri-Health — Adel Etinas, City & County of Honolulu

• Hawai‘i Agri-Health — Adel Etinas, County of Hawai‘i

• Hawai‘i Equity Partners, Inc. — James York, County of Hawai‘i

• Hawai‘i Equity Partners, Inc. — James York, City & County of Honolulu 

• Hawai‘i Equity Partners, Inc. — James York, County of Kaua‘i 

• Hawai‘i Equity Partners, Inc. — James York, County of Maui

• Hawaii Green Cross LLC — Kimberly Dey, City & County of Honolulu

• Hawai‘i Hemp Research & Development LLLP — Ronald Au, City & County of Honolulu  

• Hawai‘i Medicinal Options, LLC — Alan Texeria, County of Maui

• Hawai‘i Pacific Care, LLC — Charles Long, City & County of Honolulu 

• Hawaiian Ethos LLC — Shelby Floyd, County of Hawai‘i

• Hawaiian Isles Marijuana LLC —Michael Irish, City & County of Honolulu 

• HK MEDICINAL LLC —Charles Kawakami, County of Kaua‘i

• Honolulu Marijuana LLC — Vicki Kitajima, City & County of Honolulu 

• JCD Corporation — Daniel Lankford, County of Maui  

• Ka Lau Malie LLC — Ivan Lui Kwan, City & County of Honolulu 

• Kai Consulting, LLC — John Morris, IV, County of Hawai‘i 

• Kaua‘i Green KoKua, LLC — Thayne Taylor, County of Kaua‘i

• Kauka Kauoha LLC — Bianca Bryant-Greenwood, City & County of Honolulu 

• KMD LLC — Kellen Kashiwa, County of Hawai‘i

• Kona Gold Wellness Center, LLC — Steven Black, County of Hawai‘i

• Lau Ola LLC — Richard Ha, Jr., County of Hawai‘i

• Launiupoko Farm, LLC — Julie Okada, County of Maui 

• Leon K Liem MD LLC — Miko Liem, City & County of Honolulu

• Lima Ulu LLC — Kenneth McPhee, County of Maui 

• Makalapua Health LLC — Louis Romero, County of Hawai‘i

• Malama Wellness, LLC — Christopher Lum, City & County of Honolulu 

• Mana Hale Hui, LLC — Rueben Oh, City & County of Honolulu 

• Mānoa Botanicals LLC — Brian Goldstein, City & County of Honolulu 

• MAUI MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY LLC — Ken Ota, County of Maui 

• Maui Medicinal Solutions LLC — Joshua Stone, County of Maui

• Maui Wellness Group, LLC — Gregory Park, County of Maui 

• MAUNA KEA CANNABIS COMPANY L.L.C. — Katherine Hunter, County of Hawai‘i

• MMMH, Inc. — David Cain, County of Maui 

• Nation Land Company LLC — Michael Farina, County of Maui 

• Nugz Hawai‘i LLC — Jeremy Nickle, City & County of Honolulu 

• O‘ahu Compassion Solutions LLC — Lex Smith, City & County of Honolulu 

• Okai LLC – Robert Medoff, City & County of Honolulu

• Ola Investments, Inc. — Michael Duick, City & County of Honolulu 

• Pacific Island Care LLC — Gary Gates, County of Maui 

• Pono Life Sciences Honolulu, LLC — Racquel Bueno, City & County of Honolulu  

• Pono Life Sciences Maui, LLC — William Mitchell, Jr., County of Maui 

• Pono Organics Investors, LLC dba Pono Wellness — William Jarvis, City & County of Honolulu 

• Project Green LLC dba Malama Group — Nina Arizumi, City & County of Honolulu 

• Simple Organic Living, LLC — Woodrow Harrelson, City & County of Honolulu 

• TCG Retro Market 1, LLC dba Cure O‘ahu — Tan Yan Chen, City & County of Honolulu 

• The Wellness Group, LLC — Marc Kruger, City & County of Honolulu 

For more information, visit health.hawaii.gov/medicalmarijuana

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