The first marijuana dispensary in the state opened on Saturday on the Qualla Boundary.
Great Smoky Cannabis Company opened its doors to more than 100 medical marijuana card holders standing in line through drizzling rain waiting for the doors to open at 10am.
Myrtle Driver Johnson, a Beloved Woman, an honorary distinction among the Eastern Band of Cherokee, made the first purchase.
Lilly Knoepp
Beloved Woman Myrtle Driver Johnson poses outside of the dispensary in front of the line waiting to legally purchase medical marijuana.
“It makes me feel good that now we can add cannabis to our Native American medicines,” Johnson said. She is a fluent speaker and a translator for Tribal Council.
Johnson spoke in Cherokee to sales associate and tribal member Eric Bird as he showed Johnson all of the products recommending flowers like blackberry kush and vapes.
“My personal would probably be our fire pre-roll packs,” Bird said. “They come in packs of five. All you have to do is take a lighter to it and spark it up.”
The dispensary also makes its own edibles from cookies and chocolate to candy.
“If you’re done then we’ll take you over to the