This Saturday, North Carolina will become the 39th state with access to medical marijuana as the Eastern Band of Cherokee opens the first marijuana dispensary in the state. The Great Smoky Cannabis Company will host a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by a grand opening at 10 a.m.
A spokesperson for ECBI said preparations for the opening have involved a variety of stakeholders.
“We have taken numerous measures by collaborating with healthcare professionals, policymakers, legal advisors, and community stakeholders to ensure that our dispensary operates in alignment with the highest standards of practice and regulatory compliance within the Qualla Boundary. Most importantly, we are exercising our rights as a sovereign nation as we continue to maintain a model of safety and responsibility,” Public Relations Officer Sheyahshe Littledave said in statement from the Principal Chief’s Office.
Sales are limited to those 21 years old or older who hold a medical cannabis patient card issued by the EBCI Cannabis Control Board.
Neil Denman, executive director of the Cannabis Control Board, said the number of applications has increased as the dispensary opening date approaches.
In March, Denman said about a total of 1,200 cards had been issued. Now, he says, there have been 3,000 applications submitted to the board.
“We kind of expected that people were going to wait till an opening date was actually announced before they started applying,” Denman said.
Of the approved applications, about 1,000 are NC residents and about 300 are enrolled tribal members.
About 450 applications are currently under review, meaning the application has incomplete documentation or – more often – an incorrect photo.
“There’s a little pictogram with instructions on our website. It needs to be a plain head and shoulders shot in front of a plain white background with no hat, no glasses, kind of like a passport or a driver’s license photo but we get all kinds of selfies taken in a car or outside or whatever,” Denman said.
He said he is hopeful that more applications will be approved before the grand opening.
“We're trying to trying to get through these applications to get as many of them improved as we can, so they've got as large a customer base as they can have for opening day Saturday,” he said.
The dispensary will also accept out-of-state medical cards, or other tribal medical cannabis cards.
“It's important for us to provide accurate information to the surrounding general public about the benefits, risks, messaging, and regulations around medical cannabis use and by maintaining transparency and implementing rigorous safety measures,” Littledave said in a statement.
Dispensary security told BPR that only individuals with medical cards will be allowed on the retail floor which sells flower, edibles and other THC products.
The limit for purchase at the dispensary is one ounce of flower with a monthly limit of six ounces. Purchase of concentrated THC product is limited to 2,500 milligrams of THC per day and 10,000 milligrams per month.
“It's important for us to provide accurate information to the surrounding general public about the benefits, risks, messaging, and regulations around medical cannabis use and by maintaining transparency and implementing rigorous safety measures,” Littledave said in a statement.
Legal questions around marijuana use
In early March, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd sent a letter to federal, state and local law enforcement criticizing the saleof marijuana on the Qualla Boundary. Tribal leaders responded that the process has been carefully vetted and falls within their sovereignty as a nation.
The Qualla Boundary borders Swain, Jackson and Haywood counties and tribal land also sits in Cherokee and Graham Counties.
District Attorney Ashley Welch, who represents Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, was one of the recipients of the senators’ letter. She released a statement in early April stating that the district will enforce state laws and respect tribal sovereignty.
“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,” Welch said in the statement.
“Tribes have inherent authority as sovereign nations, subject only to federal, not state, law,” she said. “We respect tribal sovereignty, and we respect the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ right to enact tribal laws.”
Welch noted the illegality of the cultivation, distribution and possession of marijuana in North Carolina. “We will continue to enforce state law off Qualla Boundary.”
Local sheriffs have been quiet about their plans for the dispensary opening.
Haywood Sheriff Bill Wilke told BPR that the law hasn’t changed in the state.
“North Carolina statue doesn't change for us. We're not changing the way we enforce the law,” Wilke said.
A legal cannabis event is set to take place in Waynesville on 4/20. Wilke said he has expressed his concern for safety surrounding the event.
“There’s no reason for law enforcement to do anything different, but again I do have some public safety concerns of people driving from there who have been ingesting Delta 8 and all that which, I think, is what they plan to distribute there,” Wilke said.
BPR asked Wilke if there will be more officers on the road over the weekend.
“We’ll be fully staffed,” he responded.
Staying in on the Boundary
Since marijuana is illegal off of the Boundary, those who purchase medical marijuana won’t be able to legally smoke once they leave tribal land.
BPR reached out to a number of hotels on the Qualla Boundary to see if there will be an influx of guests staying the night after the dispensary opens. Four out of five hotels that responded said there isn’t an unusual number of rooms books for this weekend.
Econolodge and River’s Edge Motel general manager Natalie Dillard said there are more reservations than normal for this weekend as the dispensary is opening.
“For Friday night we are almost sold out and for Saturday we are at 50%, which is not typical,” Dillard said.
She says that there has been an increase of marijuana use at the motel in recent years. Recently there has been evidence of smoking in rooms , two or three times per week. Dillard said there haven’t been a lot of questions from guests at the front desk either.
“We’re not really receiving questions. There will be a learning curve and we will approach it as it comes. Our property is still smoke-free so we are going to ask them to go elsewhere. We don’t want them smoking in the rooms,” she said.
