Woody Harrelson
(1961)
American actor and hemp-activist
NOV 2005 - Woody Harrelson has swapped marijuana for yoga, because the spiritual practice gives him a better high, without the lows.
The actor has long been a poster boy for smokers of the drug - but is attempting to get healthy, and had found enormous benefits from a more active, weed-free lifestyle.
He says: "Yoga and smoking a joint are very similar things. One, you take the elevator to the top floor, and the other you climb up the mountain. But the one gives you ultimately a deficit., whereas the yoga continually pays dividends.
"I do think it helps me. You can look in my eyes and probably see there's some kind of agitation in there."
Woody abouit weed:
"I do smoke, but I don't go through all this trouble just because I want to make my drug of choice legal. It's about personal freedom. We should have the right in this country to do what we want, if we don't hurt anybody. Seventy-two million people in this country have smoked pot. Eighteen to 20 million in the last year. These people should not be treated as criminals." - woody Harrelson
Hemp:
Hemp is not an inexpensive fiber, about 100% higher than cotton. The high processing costs and limited quantities that are available are responsible for the higher cost. Beyond the problems of technology, hemp proponents are trying hard to overcome the obvious image problem. A lifelong environmental activist, Woody Harelson has proven to be an effective spokesperson for the legalization of hemp. Harrelson has been jailed several times, staging a planting of hemp seeds in support of farmers lobbing for legalization. He has been seen sporting a custom made Giorgio Armani hemp tuxedo accessorized with hemp shoes.
Associated Press - WOODY HARRELSON BACKS FIRST MEDICAL POT GROWER TO HAVE TRIAL SACRAMENTO ( AP ) -- The first Californian to fight federal drug charges using the state's new medical marijuana law drew support Thursday from actor Woody Harrelson, who says the judge and prosecutors are unfairly using the case to try to defeat Proposition 215.
B.E. Smith was convicted on felony charges of possession and cultivation of marijuana in May. He faces up to five years in prison at his sentencing next Friday. Smith has said that he grew pot to help sick people. Such a defense could offer the Trinity County resident immunity in a state court because Proposition 215 allows for the growth and consumption of marijuana for medical use.
A Vietnam veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Smith, 52, obtained a doctor's recommendation for marijuana when California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996.
``Are we living in a democracy when the federal government and a puppet judge blatantly disregard a law created by the people?'' Harrelson said Thursday.
The judge at Smith's May trial agreed with federal prosecutors arguments to bar defense arguments relating to Proposition 215.
``Under federal law there is no such thing as a caregiver who can grow marijuana,'' prosecutor Nancy L. Simpson, assistant U.S. attorney, said Thursday in an interview. ``Proposition 215 is not a defense to federal statues. The only question for the jury was whether he was cultivating it.''
Smith's attorney, Thomas J. Ballanco, called his attempts to defend Smith under those conditions ``surreal.'' Ballanco and Harrelson spoke during a telephone conference call on the case Thursday.
``All we could do was try to prove that B.E. Smith is truthful and law abiding,'' Ballanco said.
In that effort, Harrelson -- who met Smith at environmental protests over the Headwaters Forest in 1997 -- testified on Smith's behalf.
But Harrelson, frustrated at not being able to talk about medical marijuana, clashed with the judge and accused him of ``keeping the truth from the jury.''
At one point, U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. warned Harrelson, who gained fame on the ``Cheers'' television show, that he might find himself behind bars if he continued to defy the court.
Smith has made no secret of growing marijuana for himself and others after passage of Proposition 215, Ballanco said.
In September of 1997, federal agents seized 87 marijuana plants which Smith had planted on federal land in Denny. Two months later, Smith was charged in a federal grand jury indictment.
Medical marijuana advocates have been closely watching Smith's case, wondering if it could mark a new stage in the face-off between state and federal authorities over the law.
But state officials said the case should not affect their efforts to implement the voter's will.
``If Smith was on his own property, growing what he says was medicine for medicinal use, then there might be an issue to raise about whether there might be some enforcement clash between the state and federal government,'' said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
``But if he's growing it on federal land it would be pretty unusual to expect the U.S attorney to ignore federal law,'' Barankin said.
Actor/marijuana activist Woody Harrelson is one of a select group of actors that have triumphantly made the transition from the small screen to major motion pictures. He endears himself to millions of television viewers as Woody Boyd, the affable but baffled bartender in NBC's long-running, much loved hit comedy series CHEERS. Harrelson won an Emmy Award in 1988 for his work as Woody Boyd and was nominated four additional times during his eight years on the show. Harrelson made his big screen debut as a high school football player in WILDCATS and went on to make such hits as
WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP, MONEY TRAIN, INDECENT PROPOSAL, KINGPIN, PALMETTO , EDTV, THE THIN RED LINE and WELCOME TO SARAJEVO. Harrelson received Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for his critically acclaimed performance as controversial magazine publisher Larry Flynt in the Milos Forman's drama, THE PEOPLE VS LARRY FLYNT.
Mr. Harrelson sits on the NORML advisory board with Willy Nelson, Bill Maher, Daniel Stern, Rick Steves, and Robert Altman, among other prominent activists opposed to marijuana prohibition. He has consistently lent his celebrity status to the cause of reforming marijuana laws.
