By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Ben Cordell, of Greenville, S.C., got in line at the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. at 1 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 to be the first in line as the business was opening later that morning for adult-use (21+) sales to all for the first time. The line of more than 1,000 people snaked through the parking lot.
Following years of discussions and exactly one year to the day that a referendum passed on the issue, Cherokee started sales of adult-use cannabis. The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. is operated by Qualla Enterprises, LLC, an entity of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), which also operates a cannabis farm in Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) which supplies the dispensary.
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks said in a statement, “Today’s opening of the Great Smoky Cannabis Company for adult-use recreational marijuana is a significant milestone for our tribe, marking a new chapter of opportunity and growth. This initiative is our right as a Tribal government to assert our Sovereignty.
I want to take a moment to personally acknowledge and thank everyone who has poured their hard work, time, and passion into making this day possible. Your dedication has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life, and I’m confident that this is just the beginning.”
Nick Reed, left, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and employee at the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. dispensary in Cherokee, N.C., helps Ben Cordell with a sale on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 7. Cordell, of Greenville, S.C., was the first in line to purchase as the facility opened for the first time for adult-use (21+) sales to all. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
On Saturday morning, Forrest Parker, Qualla Enterprises, LLC general manager, told the One Feather the turn-out was hard to describe. “There’s been a lot of major steps in this project, I think, that demonstrated that the community was the foundation of it.
Even though there’s been challenges, there always is with very important things. Those challenges that have been overcome as a tribe, as a group, as a people, to get here, I don’t think any of us can truly understand the magnitude, or at least what it feels to me today, and what little knowledge I have of the world, life and my tribe. It’s a special day for us. It’s a special day for the Eastern Band of Cherokee period.”
Parker went on to say, “When you see the people in this line, it’s clear. It makes it very, very clear and it’s very validating, I think, to the plant and to the medicine that comes from the ground. Which, nobody understands that more than indigenous people. It’s just an honor to be able to help connect people within our community looking for an opportunity that they might not even know they were looking for. I don’t think we look at how many things that happen in our community where it brings the younger generation in close contact with the elders, the elders of the elders. In my lifetime, I’ve never experienced something that did that so much.”
He thanked all of the employees at Qualla Enterprises, LLC as well as the Cherokee community. “I’m so proud of these people here at Qualla, but I’m also humbled by the community, and our tribal leaders, and the support, and people just working through challenges together and fighting through – understanding enough and talking enough. It’s been a long journey but I hope everyone that’s ever touched this or said the word is proud of what’s going on right now.”
Elawodi (Yellowhill) Rep. Tom Wahnetah was in attendance on Saturday morning and commented, “I think it’s great news. I think it’s a great day for the Tribe, an historical day. I think it’s a great day for the state to get a picture of how cannabis will be great for the state. It’s medicine for our people and I think the state needs to realize that and pass the medical portion of the bill, then eventually go into the adult use.”
This is a portion of the line on Saturday morning that wrapped around the parking lot for the Great Smoky Cannabis Co.
Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) Rep. Boyd Owle was also present and said he was impressed with the long line. “Today is the day that’s really going to tell us about our investment, if we’re going to get a good return and help pay that down. Right now, it certainly looks that way. It’ll be interesting to find out the numbers and the people that came through, the counts. I’m really looking forward to that.”
He added, “I’ve supported it since day one. I continue to support it. When you’re looking at what we’ve got now with gaming and we have the competition coming around us, I think it’s important that we find other forms of revenue coming in. What better way than to do this? Other states are doing it, 36 states, and they’re making a ton of money. That’s what we’re looking at as well to help the tribal government and the people. We’ve got to pay for the services and once the competition hits with the gaming around us, it’s going to have an impact, I think like $100 million. So, hopefully this will help offset that $100 million loss we’re anticipating.”
Saturday’s opening is the third and final stage. Sales of adult-use cannabis for EBCI tribal members as well as members of other federally recognized tribes opened on July 4, 2024, and medical cannabis sales opened on April 20, 2024.
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).
Nathan Apodaca, aka Doggface, a Native musician and actor (Uncle Charley on “Reservation Dogs), was present during Saturday’s event.
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.
Cherokee Code Sec. 14-95.12 (Prohibited Marijuana Conduct) outlines what is not legal regarding cannabis on EBCI tribal lands.
“(a) It shall be unlawful for any person, business, or other entity to:
- Possess marijuana when the person is less than 21 years old;
- Provide, give, or transfer in any way, marijuana to any person less than 21 years old;
- Cultivate marijuana without a valid license, valid agent card, or a valid medical cannabis patient card issued by the EBCI Cannabis Control Board;
- Operate any marijuana facility without a valid license issued by the EBCI Cannabis Control Board;
- Sell marijuana without a license from the EBCI Cannabis Control Board;
- Sell hemp or hemp products without a license from the EBCI Cannabis Control Board;
- Possession of marijuana in any place where possession is prohibited by the conspicuous posting of a sign or notice by the owner or possessor of the location;
- Consuming marijuana in public;
- Possess or consume marijuana within 100 feet of a school, child day care facility, church, hospital, tribal government building, public park, playground, community club building, or public swimming pool, or community facility as defined in Chapter 17;
- Transport marijuana, hemp, or hemp products in the passenger area of a motor vehicle in other than the manufacturer’s unopened original container;
- Consume marijuana, hemp, or hemp products while driving a motor vehicle on a highway or public vehicular area as defined in Chapter 20 of the Cherokee Code.”
The One Feather reached out to the EBCI Office of the Attorney General for a comment on where it is legal to consume on the Qualla Boundary. Their statement is as follows, “From the perspective of the individual consumer, marijuana is now governed by Tribal criminal law. The result of this is that marijuana may be possessed and consumed in places and situations unless such is prohibited by the Tribe’s criminal law. There is not a designated place for marijuana consumption set out in law.”
The statement continues, “Consumers should take care to not violate the Tribe’s criminal law, which means not consuming in the prohibited places and limiting their consumption to places where the owner/possessor of the location allows it (ex: a private home, or lodging facility or business where it is allowed). Federal law and North Carolina still prohibit marijuana possession and consumption in all places where those laws apply.”
