The Great Smoky Cannabis Company made history on April 20 by opening the first dispensary in a state where cannabis is illegal on both the medical and recreational level. North Carolina is one of only 12 states that has held out on legalizing on either front.
The dispensary, located within the sovereign nation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Western North Carolina, sold only medical marijuana at the time of its opening. Then, on July 4, the company started selling recreational cannabis products to anyone with a tribal identification card.
Next month, the dispensary will take operations a step further, expanding recreational marijuana sales to anyone over 21 years old with a valid ID.
“The decision to jump into the recreational market was a decision made by the tribal council, but they didn’t want to jump in headfirst,” Neil Denman, executive director of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Cannabis Control Board, told Carolina Public Press.
The Cannabis Control Board is the regulatory arm for the tribe’s cannabis project. They ensure that Qualla Enterprises, the parent company of Great Smoky Cannabis, is following the rules set forth by the tribe, both in production and consumer-facing operations.
“Starting with just members of tribes was a way to take a gradual step into the adult-use recreational market.”
There are 44 Native American tribes for whom cannabis is legal. Members of any of those tribes had access to Great Smoky Cannabis’ recreational products this summer.
Although they approached this expansion incrementally, Qualla Enterprises LLC, is still scrambling to ramp up production of cannabis products in preparation for the Sept. 7 expansion.
“One of the stipulations (from the Cannabis Control Board) is that all the cannabis that’s sold in the dispensary must be grown on tribal land,” Denman said.
“This was true, until just recently. They just ordered some outside product to bolster their inventory, to make sure they have enough when they open for recreational. The intention is for all products to be grown here on the Qualla Boundary, and eventually, it will all be again. But you don’t want to make this big announcement, open up, and then run out.”
Qualla Enterprises declined to comment on the earnings from the Great Smoky Cannabis Company so far, or their projections for after their full adult-use opening.
The company estimates that its cannabis operation will employ 500 enrolled tribe members, though they are not currently hiring for any positions.
“Part of the reason (for this expansion into recreational marijuana sales) is purely economic,” Michael Lambert, anthropology professor at University of North Carolina and citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, told CPP. “It’s a source of revenue for the tribe to supplement what they’re bringing in with the casino.”
“The other rationale is, of course, to make marijuana available beyond just tribe members. They’re thinking about servicing a wider area. The only place where the tribe has jurisdiction to do something like this is on tribal land, because by law, the state has no jurisdiction over the tribe.”
The North Carolina Senate passed a bill, the NC Compassionate Care Act, that would have legalized medical marijuana in 2023, but the legislation did not make it through the House.
A Feb. 2024 poll conducted by Meredith College found that 78% of North Carolinians support the legalization of medical marijuana. However, some influential politicians from the state are vehemently opposed to more lenient cannabis laws.
U.S. Sens. Ted Budd, R-Winston-Salem, and Thom Tillis, R-Huntersville, sent a letter to various regulatory agencies in the spring of 2023 urging them to more closely inspect the cannabis operations of the tribe.
“Because legalizing medical marijuana is hugely popular in North Carolina, they can’t really attack it on a moral level, so they’re going after regulation,” Lambert said.
Later that year, U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-Hendersonville, introduced the Stop Pot Act, which would empower the federal government to withhold funds from tribes that allow recreational marijuana sales in states where it is illegal. The bill went nowhere.
“It’s just not politically viable for anyone to attack this,” Lambert said.
Cannabis still illegal outside tribal lands
One issue with the dispensary offering recreational cannabis products to anyone over the age of 21: once customers leave the land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, they are once again subject to state laws.
“It’s legal to possess (marijuana) as long as (customers) are on the reservation,” Lambert said.
“But once they leave and go into North Carolina, if they get pulled over, they’re in violation of North Carolina law. The question will be whether there is going to be an effort to enforce those laws.
“(Law enforcement) could set up checkpoints, but I don’t know how it would serve their interests to enforce those laws in a draconian way.”
Patrick McCoy, the sheriff’s chief deputy in Jackson County, which borders the Qualla Boundary, sees it similarly.
“We’re not going to see who comes and goes from the dispensary since it’s not in our jurisdiction,” McCoy told CPP.
“So we’re going to operate as normal. If we do happen upon someone who has marijuana, then we’ll deal with them just like anybody else that has it in the county.”
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