Cherokee reveal when all NC residents can buy at marijuana superstore
The Cherokee have set a date for expanding sales at the tribe’s marijuana dispensary in the North Carolina mountains to any adult.
Great Smoky Cannabis Company is the first and only place people can buy cannabis legally in North Carolina. Buyers originally needed a medical cannabis card from the tribe’s Cannabis Control Board. In April, the tribe expanded sales to any adult member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and all other federally recognized tribes.
Starting on Sept. 7 at 10 a.m., the doors open to everyone 21 and older, Kara Howard of Qualla Enterprises, the Cherokee marijuana subsidiary told The Charlotte Observer.
The tribe has enough product to meet the expected increased demand and the staff to handle significantly more customers.
In a September 2023 referendum, tribal members approved adult or recreational use of cannabis on their 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary and other lands.
Tribal leaders spent months crafting a required adult-use ordinance approved by the tribal council. The ordinance allows any adult, including North Carolina residents and others, to buy products at the tribe’s cannabis superstore that opened April 20 near Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.
The tribe opened the dispensary in its renovated former bingo hall at U.S. 19 and Bingo Loop Road, 46 miles west of Asheville in the Great Smoky Mountains. The dispensary is near the Cherokees’ longtime Harrah’s casino and hotel on U.S. 19.
Buyers risk arrest if they leave the Qualla Boundary with cannabis in their cars, Sheriff Curtis Cochran of neighboring Swain County told Asheville station WLOS in June.
N.C. residents and others who previously obtained medical cannabis cards from the tribe’s Cannabis Control Board are not entitled to take cannabis off tribal land, board officials said.
That’s because cannabis remains illegal under N.C. and federal law, officials said.
“They need to educate their people up there that when they come off the boundary, they’re in a different world,” Cochran told WLOS. “We’ll educate them if we catch them with it. We’ll charge them for it.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Cherokee reveal when all NC residents can buy at marijuana superstore."