On-site cannabis consumption in West Hollywood is not new: in October 2019, the Original Cannabis Cafe née Lowell Farms became the first legal public lounge in which to consume cannabis not just in the city, but in the United States. Since that time, West Hollywood has continued to issue licenses to largely upscale establishments: The Woods, an indoor/outdoor dispensary co-owned by Woody Harrelson, features private consumption cabanas perched among lush foliage, and has been serving cannabis on-site since May 2022.
In May 2025, Zen Cannabis, a dispensary that had started operating decades ago as a medical marijuana provider, was granted the last of eight remaining city licenses for on-site consumption by a largely receptive community, although some residents remain opposed to its existence.
“A big NO to the return of Zen to 8464 [Santa Monica Boulevard],” commented Chris Hana, a West Hollywood resident living on neighboring Alfred Street. “They just moved out! Area doesn’t need more cannabis sites! Customers, employees, and homeless [people] hang out and park in front of residential areas (1011 & 1018–1020 N. Alfred). They make noise, play music, smoke, and leave trash. Customers, employees, and homeless don’t care about neighbors.”
While Hana is not the only opposing voice, he is definitely in the minority. Although the dispensaries are not 100% crime free – The Woods suffered a robbery in May 2025 by what appears to be a crew targeting dispensaries – the businesses seem to bring more benefits than nuisances to the community.
The former chair of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Genevieve Morrill, spoke in a public meeting about how cannabis licenses bring tax revenue to West Hollywood, a vital source of funding that can easily be poached by neighboring cities. The city of Los Angeles, which almost entirely surrounds the 1.89 square miles of West Hollywood, has 295 licensed dispensaries as of June 2025 and plans to add more. “Cannabis, like it or hate it, is a legal industry now, and we have to stop criminalizing it,” Morrill said.
Zen Cannabis (also known as Zen Healing) is particularly beloved by its patrons: on Yelp, it has an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars out of 196 reviews (“These guys are the OG’s in WeHo, and they treat their customers like neighbors” reads a typical review), while in 2023, a ribbon-cutting ceremony organized by the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to celebrate Zen’s 20 years of operation was held, fittingly, on 4/20.
As the WeHo Times reported, “WeHo Chamber Board President congratulated Zen [Cannabis] for being open for two decades and executive chamber member Luis Saldana presented with a traditional Buck for Good Luck framed dollar bill to wish them continued success.”
However, even an official ribbon cutting ceremony did not make the official licensing process easy or rapid for Zen Cannabis. As Amy Pagel, who is the board secretary of Emerald Village Cannabis Trade and Tourism Association and helped Eric Kinney, the first owner of Zen Cannabis, receive the on-site consumption license, explained, “When I wrote this license application in 2018 I was just thinking about starting a family. I now have an entire five-year-old child. Licensing is brutal but I love the wins.”
In August 2024, entreprenuer Tristan Schukraft acquired Zen Cannabis and its basic adult-use retail operating license, allowing him to open a new West Hollywood dispensary, Green Qween, in partnership with Andrés Rigal and Taylor Bazley. (The sale agreement between Kinney and Schukraft specifically stated that Kinney would retain the rights to the DBA name, thereby allowing Kinney to apply for an onsite consumption license in 2025.)
Green Qween, which is part of a franchise with pre-existing locations in Downtown LA and Sherman Oaks, is currently scheduled to open at 802 San Vicente Boulevard in mid-June 2025. The dispensary plans to support West Hollywood’s vital LGBTQIA+ community; as Rigal explained to the Los Angeles Business Journal, “We created this brand for queer people, and it was the queer people that got us across the finish line. We would not be here without them. We are very aware of that.”
Architecturally speaking, many of the dispensaries in West Hollywood are open and airy. This elegant aesthetic is purposeful; Schukraft said, “Med Men did a really good job at making marijuana look like an Apple store. That’s a great concept because before Med Men it was that (type of) dispensary with wrought iron windows and this intimidating bouncer … It just wasn’t a great experience. And with Green Qween, it’s a high-end boutique with bright colors, no bars on the windows, it’s just a completely different experience.”
For now, Zen Cannabis is staying in its original and light-filled 8464 Santa Monica Boulevard location, which features plush seating, welcoming decor, and a green awning with a smiling Buddha-like figure. Plans for the new lounge include eliminating an internal staircase in order to create more floor space for customers to enjoy their purchases. As Danya A. on Yelp said, “This place rocks! Excellent selection, helpful staff and very convenient. I’m glad they are still in operation as they far outpace some of the bigger dispensaries in SoCal.”
