Cherokee cannabis business in North Carolina to begin sales to any adult in September

CHEROKEE, N.C. -- The marijuana retailer owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on western North Carolina tribal lands announced Thursday that it will begin selling cannabis products to anyone age 21 or over next month.

Great Smoky Cannabis Co. revealed the 10 a.m. Sept. 7 start date on social media. The outlet already started July 4 to sell in-store or drive-thru products for recreational use to adults enrolled in the tribe or in any other federally recognized tribe. And it had just opened its doors in April initially medical marijuana purchases for adults.

But plans were already being developed to offer products more broadly after tribal members voted in a referendum last September backing adult recreational use on their reservation and telling the tribal council to develop legislation to regulate such a market. Those details were hammered out by the council, approving language in June that effectively decriminalized cannabis on Eastern Band land called the Qualla Boundary.

WATCH | Recreational marijuana legal for tribal members in North Carolina

While many in the region say they support recreational sales, they worry people will buy it and take it outside tribal land.

Marijuana possession or use is otherwise illegal in North Carolina, but the tribe can pass rules related to cannabis as a sovereign nation. Of North Carolina and its surrounding states, only Virginia allows for the legal recreational use of marijuana statewide.

The social media posts on Thursday offered no additional information on the expanded sales.

Qualla Enterprises, the tribe's cannabis subsidiary, had previously signaled a two-step process to expand to adult-use sales, limiting it initially to tribal members.