In early June, the Cherokee tribal council voted to allow recreational sales at the tribe’s new medical marijuana dispensary in the North Carolina mountains, the first and only place people can legally buy cannabis in the state. Up until that vote, customers needed a medical cannabis card from the tribe’s Cannabis Control Board. “Starting as soon as August, that will no longer be the case,” The Charlotte Observer said. Despite pushback from North Carolina authorities, this latest vote shows the tribe’s determination to exercise Indigenous sovereignty.
‘A real sovereign flex’
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened its cannabis superstore, the Great Smoky Cannabis Company, on April 20th in a renovated bingo hall in the Great Smoky Mountains. A holiday for cannabis enthusiasts, 4/20 is typically the biggest sales day of the year for many cannabis retailers. The store debuted months after the tribe voted to allow the adult use of cannabis on its 57,000-acre territory, known as the Qualla Boundary, and on other lands.
North Carolina remains one of nine states in the U.S. that still prohibits medical cannabis, and possession of marijuana could lead to jail time under state law. By going against state registration, the band is “exercising its right
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