By Randy Foster
Cherokee Scout Editor
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians plans to open a medical cannabis dispensary at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 20 — the first and only place to legally purchase cannabis in North Carolina — but buyers risk running into the law if they take their purchases off tribal land.
The dispensary is at 91 Bingo Loop Road in Cherokee, a 10,000-square-foot building that once housed the defunct Cherokee Tribal Bingo. The dispensary will open with what are described as high-quality tested products, including flower, vape products, edibles and topicals. The facility includes three pickup windows.
Customers are required to possess a medical cannabis card issued by the EBCI Cannabis Control Board or other states where marijuana sales are legal. Tribe-issued cards are available to tribal and non-tribal adults with a medical attestation from a physician that they have one of 18 qualifying conditions. No prescription is needed.
Eligible medical conditions include acquired immune deficiency syndromes, anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders, any autoimmune disease, anorexia nervosa, cancer, PTSD, glaucoma, a hospice diagnosis, Crohn’s disease, certain neurological conditions and more. Tribal members voted for recreational cannabis in a 2023 referendum, but the Tribal Council has not yet taken steps to allow recreational sales.
The opening date relates to jargon stemming from five students at a California high school who were searching for a hidden marijuana garden in 1971 and used 4:20 p.m. as both a meeting time and code word for smoking marijuana. The term “420” is commonly associated with marijuana use.
The EBCI Cannabis Control Board started accepting applications for medical marijuana cards on April 20, 2023 and a year later is opening its medical cannabis dispensary.
The Cannabis Control Board is an office of EBCI tribal government responsible for regulation of the medical cannabis industry. It issues licenses for medical cannabis businesses, agent cards for the individuals managing and working in medical cannabis businesses, along with patient cards for individuals who qualify to have access to medical cannabis.
Qualla Enterprises LLC, the EBCI tribal entity that runs the Great Smoky Cannabis Co., stated, “Qualla Enterprises LLC is thrilled to announce the grand opening of the Great Smoky Cannabis Company at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 20. Our world-class dispensary is a seed-to-sale operation. Upon opening, this facility promises to revolutionize the landscape of medical cannabis on the Qualla Boundary.
“With a commitment to quality, compassion and education, Great Smoky Cannabis Co. aims to provide patients with safe and regulated access to medicinal cannabis products. The new dispensary will open with high-quality tested products, including flower, vape products, edibles, topicals and more — carefully curated to meet the diverse needs of patients.
“Product selection will continue to grow and evolve each month.”
Qualla refers to Qualla Boundary, territory in western North Carolina held as a land trust by the U.S. government for the federally recognized EBCI.
Production, sales
and the law
Qualla Enterprises LLC has a total of 93 employees with 82 percent being EBCI tribal members, divided between administration, nine; cultivation, 50; production/processing, four; retail, 18 and security, 12.
The marijuana is grown and processed on tribal land off Coopers Creek Road in Ela between Cherokee and Bryson City. The processed cannabis products are then sold at the tribe’s Great Smoky Cannabis Co. medical marijuana dispensary in Cherokee.
Qualla Enterprises was still working out how it is going to transport its goods from the production facility to the dispensary, with General Manager Forrest Parker saying products could be transported by air or by using a specific set of roads within tribal lands.
Qualla Boundary is surrounded by county, regional, state and federal jurisdictions where possession and use of THC products continues to be illegal. Officials in those jurisdictions have taken a stand against the cannabis sales.
Although the dispensary is in a part of Cherokee within Jackson County, the production facility is in Swain County, where Sheriff Curtis Cochran has said he will enforce the law and be on the lookout for shipments from the production facility.
District Attorney Ashley Welch also weighed in.
“The mission, duty and privilege of the 43rd Prosecutorial District is to enforce state laws. We do not pick certain laws to enforce and ignore others,” she said in a prepared statement. “On April 20, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will open a marijuana, cannabis dispensary on tribal land. Tribes have inherent authority as sovereign nations, subject only to federal, not state, law.
“We respect tribal sovereignty and we respect the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ right to enact tribal laws. In North Carolina, the cultivation, distribution and possession of marijuana remains illegal and we will continue to enforce state law off Qualla Boundary,” she added.
U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Bud, as well as U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, who represents surrounding counties have joined the chorus opposing the sales. Edwards has been targeting federal highway funding for tribal roads if he can get the votes.
In a commentary submitted to publications in western North Carolina, Edwards said. Congress has shirked its responsibility to uphold the laws it passed regarding marijuana.
“More and more states are thumbing their proverbial noses at federal laws that declare pot as a schedule one controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Congress has sat idly by and watched it happen.
“In 2014, Congress took its gutless approach even further by enacting legislation that prevents the Department of Justice from using funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws, which have been passed every year since then. Here in our beloved mountains, we are already facing unprecedented crime, drug addiction and mental illness. I can’t stand by and condone even greater access to drugs to poison more folks in WNC, not to mention having even more impaired drivers on our roads,” he wrote.
“To allow our citizens to travel only a few miles to buy and use this common gateway drug — which the CDC and the New England Journal of Medicine have said can result in short- and long-term danger of addiction, altered brain development, chronic psychosis disorders and others — would be irresponsible. I intend to stop it.
“There is also the very real possibility of ‘drug tourism,’ where bad actors will capitalize on the influx of partying travelers to WNC and offer other types of illicit, hard drugs for sale. An increase in general criminal activity would inevitably follow. This could strain our resources to a breaking point, as local law enforcement would stop enforcing marijuana laws, which is what we’ve observed in several United States cities,” Edwards added.
EBCI issued a statement in response to a “frontal attack on Cherokee sovereignty” from federal legislators, calling characterizations of medical marijuana sales as “replete with misinformation and inflammatory language that promote fear and misunderstanding. The Eastern Band is attempting to enter the medical marijuana field with careful and thorough consideration of all the legal and policy implications of this industry.
“We have been open about our efforts with law enforcement and regulatory bodies, as well as the public, about our intentions. The Eastern Band is establishing a model for safety and responsibility in an industry that is already legal in 36 states, the District of Columbia and tribal lands across the United States.”
Recreational sales on hold
By a 2,464-1,057 margin in Sept. 2023, EBCI voters overwhelmingly approved a non-binding referendum in favor of legalizing adult recreational cannabis use, but it has not received approval from the tribal council.
An aptly named “Joint Statement from Tribal Leadership” was issued by EBCI leaders on March 28 that read, “Recently, it was announced that the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. will open its doors on April 20, 2024 exclusively for medical cannabis purposes. Since then, we have received several questions about the status of recreational use and where it stands today.
“The referendum posed on Sept. 7, 2023 asked tribal members whether they would support legalizing the possession and use of cannabis for individuals aged 21 and older. Additionally, it required the EBCI Tribal Council to pass legislation to regulate the marijuana market.
“With 70 percent of voters in favor, we acknowledge the significance of this vote. Since then, we have approached this responsibility seriously so that any legislation concerning cannabis is practical and thoughtful. This is a process that cannot be rushed; there are numerous factors to consider so that we are able to make the best decisions as these are decisions that can have significant long-term impacts on our tribe.
“Work is continuing to progress with the executive and legislative branches and we are committed to make sure that any administrative efforts and legislation concerning recreational cannabis use is implemented responsibly. We will continue to provide updates as we move forward.”
For details visit: www.greatsmokycannabisco.com, quallallc.com and @greatsmokycannabis on Instagram. For questions regarding patient card applications, visit the cannabis control board’s website at: www.ebci-ccb.org.