Following last year’s decision by members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (ECBI) to legalize cannabis for adult use, the tribe has set a target date to open retail sales: April 20, 2024. If all goes as planned, the launch will mark the first-ever legal marijuana sales within the borders of North Carolina.
“It’s the national cannabis holiday, right?” Lee Griffin, human resources director for the tribe’s marijuana business, Qualla Enterprises, said of the 4/20 start date during a ECBI tribal council work session on Wednesday. “Across the country, it’s the biggest revenue date annually” for cannabis.
“It’s like New Year’s Eve at the casino,” he said.
The retail store—located on the tribe’s 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary—will be open to any adult 21 and older, regardless of tribal membership.
Members of the tribe voted last September to legalize and regulate adult-use sales, approving a ballot measure with a strong 70 percent–30 percent margin.
Two years earlier, in 2021, ECBI’s Qualla Boundary became the first place in North Carolina where medical marijuana was legal after the tribal council adopted a regulated system. Registration for the program opened to all North Carolina residents this past June, and in October, the tribe issued