(QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Cherokee, North Carolina On Saturday, Sept. 7, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will start selling marijuana to the public for no reason.
People who want to buy something must be at least 21 years old and show a legal photo ID. Customers don’t have to live in North Carolina or be part of the tribe in order to buy something.
While cannabis is allowed on sovereign territory, it is against the law to bring it outside of the Qualla Boundary.
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At 10 a.m., the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. will welcome new customers.
Since April 20, the shop has sold marijuana to people with medical cards. Since July 4, it has sold marijuana for fun to members of recognized groups.
In September 2023, the ECBI held a vote to see how interested members were in letting more people buy from them. Seventy percent of people agreed with the measure.
Qualla Enterprises officials thought they could make $385 million in the first year if they sold to everyone over 21 instead of just medical patients, which they thought would bring in $200 million.
The EBCI Cannabis Control Board oversees the business, and a separate lab checks the goods.
When sales first started, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd sent an open letter to police asking for a plan to follow federal and state rules.
We tried to get District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch to say something about the new sales but did not hear back.
Lawmakers in North Carolina are still debating bills that would make medical marijuana legal, even though several of those bills failed in the statehouse.
On December 2, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a meeting to hear what people have to say about changing the classification of marijuana to a less dangerous drug.