At least 65 people lined up in the early morning dark Saturday as the Cherokee prepared to open North Carolina’s first and only marijuana dispensary superstore to all adults.
“This is amazing to see so many people here,” James Bradley, Qualla Enterprises production manager, told The Charlotte Observer as he handed a free pack of rolling paper to each person in the line. Qualla Enterprises is the tribe’s cannabis subsidiary.
Marijuana plants grow on display inside the Great Smokies Cannabis Company dispensary in Cherokee, NC on Saturday, September 7, 2024.
At 9 a.m., dispensary officials passed out T-shirts and non-infused chocolates and gummies to people waiting in the line. By the end of the hour, there were hundreds of people in line when the store opened at 10 a.m..
Shawn and Deanna Allen of Waynesville were among the first half-dozen in line outside the store at U.S. 19 and Bingo Loop, near Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. They and other early birds got there around 6:30 a.m., Shawn Allen said.
Toking a joint relaxes him after his 12-hour shifts as a forklift operator, he said.
Non-infused chocolates and gummies are passed to people waiting in line for the 10:00 a.m. opening of the Great Smokies Cannabis Company dispensary in Cherokee, NC on Saturday, September 7, 2024.
‘I thank the Cherokee for doing this’
Deanna Allen said marijuana helps her debilitating nerve pain and other conditions. She takes a daily gummy.
“I’ve seen her balled up on the couch in pain,” her husband said.
Deanna Allen previously obtained a medical cannabis card from the tribe’s Cannabis Control Board to allow her to buy product at the dispensary, called Great Smoky Cannabis Company.
The tribal council later voted to open sales at the dispensary to everyone, and without the requirement of a patient card. On April 21, sales opened to all adult members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and all other federally recognized tries.
As of 10 a.m. Saturday, sales expand to every adult wherever they’re from.
“This is a positive day for us,” Tom Hansen of Western North Carolina said as he sat in a foldout chair waiting for the dispensary to open. “I thank the Cherokee for doing this.”
Staff photographer Melissa Rodriguez contributed.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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