CHEROKEE, N.C. (AP) — The recreational sale and use of marijuana for adults on western North Carolina tribal land could begin this summer after the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians governing board voted for an ordinance expanding approved use just weeks after its medical marijuana dispensary opened.
Several months earlier, tribe members backed adult recreational use on their reservation. The September referendum , approved by 70% of voters, also required the council to develop legislation to regulate such a market. Tribal leaders spent months crafting the adult-use ordinance approved Thursday by an 8-2 vote.
Plans for a medical cannabis system and the cultivation of cannabis plants already were underway before the referendum, and the tribe-owned Great Smoky Cannabis Co. within Eastern Band land known as the Qualla Boundary opened April 20 to great fanfare. Buyers so far have been limited to adults at least 21 years old with a tribe medical cannabis patient card or an out-of-state approved medical marijuana card.
But now sales and use would be lawful for any adult over 21 — not just tribal members — who comes to the reservation and the Great Smoky Cannabis store, located near the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, news outlets reported. The legislation still must be ratified by Principal Chief Michell Hicks to become law. While marijuana possession or use is otherwise illegal in North Carolina, the federally recognized tribe can pass rules related to cannabis as a sovere.