Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Opens North Carolina’s First And Only Medical Marijuana Dispensary On 4/20
The opening of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ dispensary marks the first time marijuana can legally be purchased in North Carolina. The grand opening of the Great Smoky Cannabis Company was held on 4/20.
This opening follows the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Tribal Council’s 2021 decision to legalize medical cannabis within the Qualla Boundary. The ECBI is a sovereign self-governed nation and a federally recognized tribe, hence the community has the right to open a medical marijuana dispensary in the otherwise fully prohibitionist state of North Carolina.
Among those patients was Chris Suttle, whose survival from a terminal diagnosis through cannabis serves as a testament to the profound impact of this opening. “I decided that first appointment when they told me the tumor had shrunk, that if cannabis saved my life, that I …