By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – All adults 21-years-old and up will soon be able to purchase cannabis products on the Qualla Boundary. The Great Smoky Cannabis Co., operated by Qualla Enterprises, LLC, an entity of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), will start full adult-use sales on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. The day marks a full year since EBCI voters approved a referendum allowing adult-use sales on tribal lands.
The dispensary started adult-use sales to EBCI tribal members and members of other federally recognized tribes on July 4, 2024. It first opened on April 20, 2024 for sales of medical cannabis. EBCI Beloved Woman Myrtle Driver purchased the first legal medical cannabis in the State of North Carolina, and Carolyn West, an EBCI tribal member and Qualla Enterprises, LLC board chairperson, purchased the first legal adult-use cannabis in the state.
According to the website for Great Smoky Cannabis Co., the dispensary is open Sunday and Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is closed Monday and Tuesday.
At the event opening adult-use sales to tribal members on July 4, Forrest Parker, Qualla Enterprises, LLC general manager, told the One Feather, “I don’t think any of us thought that cannabis would be something that united people the way that it has because often we see the turmoil side of things or the big, complicated matters that are really important and challenging. It takes a lot of work to get them right. I’m really, really proud. It’s so humbling to be here.”
Qualla Enterprises, LLC also operates a cannabis farm in Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) which supplies the dispensary.
While the discussions surrounding cannabis have been going on for years, most of the decisions have been made within the past year.
EBCI voters approved a referendum during the 2023 General Election on Sept. 7 which asked, “Do you support legalizing the possession of and use of cannabis for persons who are at least twenty-one (21) years old and require the EBCI Tribal Council to develop legislation to regulate the market?” The referendum passed 2,464 (yes) to 1,057 (no).
Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) passed Ord. No. 63 (2024) during its regular session on June 6, 2024 legalizing adult-use cannabis on EBCI lands. Nine Dinilawigi representatives voted to pass, Aniwodihi (Painttown) Rep. Dike Sneed and Vice Chairman David Wolfe voted not to pass, and Tutiyi (Snowbird) – Tsalagi Gadugi (Cherokee Co.) Rep. Adam Wachacha was absent.
Two floor amendments were added to Ord. No. 63 that day and passed along with the ordinance. One floor amendment dealt with home grow of cannabis plants and the other banned individually-owned hemp/cannabis stores on the tribal trust lands of the EBCI.
Following a protest by Robert Mark “Bertie” Saunooke, an EBCI tribal member and owner of two hemp/CBD stores in Cherokee, Dinilawigi reversed its previous decision during a hearing on the protest on June 27, 2024 and both floor amendments were removed from the ordinance.
Ord. No. 63 (2024), authorizing adult-use cannabis on the lands of the EBCI was approved as amended on June 27, 2024 and signed into law by Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks the same day.
