North Carolina medical marijuana sales begin at Cherokee store

abcnews.go.com:

Medical marijuana can now be legally purchased in North Carolina with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opening its long-planned dispensary this weekend on tribal land

CHEROKEE, N.C. — Medical marijuana can now be legally purchased in North Carolina with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opening its long-planned dispensary this weekend on tribal land.

Hundreds of people, many with approved medical patient cards to purchase items, celebrated the historic opening of the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. on Saturday within the Eastern Band land known as the Qualla Boundary, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Saturday was April 20, which is also known as “420 Day,” or an annual day for the celebration of marijuana.

The ceremony marks the latest liberalization of marijuana rules by the tribe, which in 2021 decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana within its 89 square miles (231 square kilometers) of land in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The tribe also formed a medical marijuana system that included a tribe-created business to grow cannabis and sell it, reaping financial rewards for the tribal members and assisting those with medical conditions.

“This project will change the trajectory of their lives forever,” Forrest Parker, general manager for Qualla Enterprises, the tribal company that manages the dispensary, said during the opening ceremony. “It will be a conduit to generations of social, economic and spiritual growth, unlike anything that’s ever been witnessed.”

The Eastern Band, with about 14,000 members, can pass rules permitting cannabis as a sovereign nation and federally recognized tribe. Marijuana use remains illegal in the rest of North Carolina. Still, Republican U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd