The Nonprofit ‘Marijuana Ventures’ of Montel Williams

One positive side effect of the medical use of marijuana may be that it gets its prominent users’ nonprofit juices flowing. Talk-show host Montel Williams is part of a nonprofit group, the Abatin Wellness Center, that has just filed for a license to operate a marijuana dispensary and cultivation facility in the District of Columbia. The Washington Post reports that earlier this year, Abatin opened a facility in Sacramento, California, with Williams as its “public face.”

Williams’ interest in medical marijuana is serious: he has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Although in recent years Williams has recorded TV pitches for the Living Well Healthmaster blender, online payday lender Money Mutual, and security firm LifeLock, he is not “a spokesman-for-hire,” according to Jonathan Franks, the publicist for both Williams and Abatin. Many people also associate Williams with the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a single point of access to hundreds of public and private patient assistance programs.