The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is set to open Great Smoky Cannabis Company April 20. The cannabis dispensary located within the Cherokee reservation will be the first to legally distribute recreational marijuana in North Carolina.
Photo by Madison Hye Long.
Last September ECBI approved a motion to legalize possession and use of marijuana for adults over 21 – a decision that has some lawmakers concerned.
The dispensary was initially set to open last fall but was delayed when then-Principal Chief Richard Sneed vetoed a $64 million backing loan. Sneed still supports the project but worries about the ability of ECBI to keep up with demand.
“I have vetoed Ordinance No. 531 not because of its subject matter but because it is not in accord with the regulatory system the Tribe has established to regulate cannabis consumption,” Sneed wrote in a May 4 letter to Council Chairman Richard French.
Photo courtesy of Qualla Enterprises, LLC.
“As I have stated many times before, I support the medical cannabis program and the Tribe’s efforts to build a cultivation facility and medical cannabis dispensary,” Sneed said, “While there is a way to allow for effective and responsible
