In little more than a month, the first legal marijuana store in North Carolina will open its doors to anyone 21 and older. Though cannabis remains illegal in the state for both medical and adult use, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) passed an recreational legalization measure last year.
Twelve months later, the Great Smoky Cannabis Company is on track to open its doors to the public on September 7.
The store, which began selling medical marijuana on April 20 of this year, has been allowing recreational sales to members of ECBI and other federally recognized Native American tribes since early July. The September opening—set for the anniversary of the election in which tribal members OK’d adult-use marijuana legalization—marks the first time that any adult over the age of 21 can make purchases at the shop.
“Are you ready to be part of history?” asked a social media post announcing the September 7 launch.
None of the states that border North Carolina—Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina or Virginia—has legal adult-use cannabis sales, meaning the Great Smokey Cannabis Company will be the sole marijuana retailer within a region in the Southeast spanning hundreds of square miles.
Notably, products products purchased at Great Smoky Cannabis Co. cannot legally be taken off tribal land, known as the Qualla Boundary.
Drumroll, please…
Are you ready to #BePartOfHistory?
September 7th at 10 AM!
Visit https://t.co/cVqWw2bAEl and follow us
greatsmokycannabis on Insta! pic.twitter.com/qab0rq6x8r— Great Smoky Cannabis Company (@greatsmokycanna) August 1, 2024
Not everybody is excited about the legal cannabis activity being undertaken by the tribe. In March, ahead of the dispensary’s start of medical marijuana sales, two Republican senators wrote to federal, state and local officials to ask what steps they were taking to enforce marijuana prohibition.
“As our nation is facing an unprecedented drug crisis that is harming our communities, it is vital to learn what measures your departments and agencies are taking to uphold current federal and state laws,” wrote Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ted Budd (R-NC). The matter, they added, “raises multiple questions on how North Carolina communities will be kept safe.”
The tribe’s moves to legalize despite North Carolina’s ongoing prohibition of marijuana drew criticism from other politicians, as well, including Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC). Ahead of last year’s election on adult use, Edwards, who is not Native, authored an op-ed in Cherokee One Feather, the tribal newspaper, warning that legalization on EBCI land “would be irresponsible, and I intend to stop it.”
While the U.S. legally cannot block the tribe from passing its own laws around marijuana, Edwards threatened to cut federal funding from the tribe if legalization proceeds. He said introduced legislation in Congress called the Stop Pot Act that would “defund governments that ignore federal law.” The bill has not progressed, however.
Edwards last month told the local Citizen Times that he would “remain steadfast” in his opposition to legalization.
The publication reports that Rep. Caleb Rudown (D), who is challenging Edwards for his congressional seat in November, has said the actions by the GOP lawmakers show a lack of respect for tribal sovereignty and personal liberty.
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch, meanwhile, told Citizen Times earlier this year that she respects EBCI’s tribal sovereignty but intends to enforce state law against marijuana.
“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 April.
Marijuana legalization on the Qualla Boundary is expected to eventually bring in millions of dollars in revenue for the tribe. Forrest Parker, general manager of the Qualla Enterprises said last July that “If adult-use were legalized, revenue could conservatively reach $385 million in the first year and exceed $800 million by year five,” according to a Cherokee One Feather report.
Tribal governments in a handful of U.S. states have entered the marijuana business as more jurisdictions legalize. Notably, in Minnesota, where state lawmakers passed an adult-use marijuana program last year, tribes are leading the way.
Minnesota’s cannabis law allows tribes within the state to open marijuana businesses before the state itself begins licensing retailers. Some tribal governments—including the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, the White Earth Nation and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe—have already entered the legal market.
It’s believed that in 2020, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, located in South Dakota, became the first tribe to vote to legalize marijuana within a U.S. state where the plant remained illegal.
Meanwhile in North Carolina, a state judge recently declared that anyone who “has the odor of marijuana” will be barred from entering the North Carolina Superior Courts of Robeson County.
The order, from Senior Resident Superior Court Judge James Gregory Bell, said that smelling like cannabis is grounds for removal from the courthouse, and the sheriff will be directed to “ask you to leave and come back without the odor owns [sic] your persons.”
Last month, the North Carolina Senate against passed a bill to legalize medical cannabis, though like in past sessions it remains stalled in the House of Representatives.
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