The Justice Department will investigate claims made by North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is marketing cannabis products to children and moving marijuana across jurisdictional boundaries.
Eastern Band Principal Chief Michell Hicks denied that the program violates federal law, according to the Asheville Citizen Times.
During the Senate’s Oct. 7 oversight hearing on the Department of Justice, Tillis shifted the discussion to the Great Smoky Cannabis Co.
The program, the South’s only Indigenous cannabis initiative, came under scrutiny as Tillis presented Halloween-themed marketing materials and an aerial photograph of a cannabis farm displayed on posterboard.
“There’s a growing operation in Western North Carolina that is part of tribal lands. The problem is that I can’t find any legal way to get this pot … to the dispensary, which is another non-contiguous part of the boundary,” Tillis said.
The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. is a tribal-supported cannabis enterprise located in the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. It began medical sales in April 2024 and expanded to include a public recreational program in September of that year.
As the only legal recreational marijuana operation in North Carolina, it represents the culmination of five years of tribal investment in its farm and facilities.
But once customers take the product beyond the boundary, possession becomes illegal.
Although marijuana remains illegal under federal and North Carolina law, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians operates as a sovereign nation.
Despite its independent status, Rep. Chuck Edwards, Sen. Ted Budd and Tillis have consistently raised questions about the legality of the tribe’s cannabis operation.
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