Cannabis Sales for NC Adults at Cherokee, OK’s New Superstore

The Cherokee tribal council on Thursday voted to expand sales at the tribe’s new medical marijuana dispensary in the North Carolina mountains to any adult in the state. The dispensary, located near Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, will be the first and only place people can buy cannabis legally in North Carolina. Until Thursday’s vote, buyers needed a medical cannabis card from the tribe’s Cannabis Control Board. Starting as soon as August, that will no longer be the case.

Nine Months After Referendum Approval

The vote came nine months after Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians members approved a referendum by over 70% to allow adult use of cannabis on their 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary and other lands. Tribal leaders spent months crafting the required adult-use ordinance that the council approved Thursday. The ordinance allows any adult, including North Carolina residents and others, to buy products at the tribe’s cannabis superstore that opened April 30. The tribe opened the dispensary in its renovated former bingo hall at U.S. 19 and Bingo Loop Road, 46 miles west of Asheville in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Details of the New Ordinance

The ordinance legalizes recreational use of marijuana on the Qualla Boundary and allows Qualla Enterprises to sell marijuana at the dispensary to any adult recreational user. The packed audience at Thursday’s tribal council meeting broke out in applause after the vote, according to a livestream of the meeting. Adult-use sales at the dispensary will open first to adult tribal members, likely in July, said Forrest Parker, general manager of Qualla Enterprises, the tribe’s cannabis subsidiary. North Carolina residents 21 and older can buy products beginning in early to mid-August, although no specific date has been set.

Projected Revenue from Cannabis Sales

Before the Sept. 7 vote by tribal members to approve adult use of marijuana on tribal land, the tribe on the 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary had already approved the use and controlled sale of medical cannabis. The dispensary could generate nearly $206 million in gross sales revenues in its first year if limited to medical patients, compared with $385 million if the product is available to all adult users, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. The figures were released by Qualla Enterprises before last year’s adult-use referendum. In its fifth year, the dispensary could generate a respective $578 million and $843 million in gross sales revenues, according to the estimate.