North Carolina
NC’s 1st marijuana dispensary will open on 4/20 in Cherokee: What to know
The future of marijuana legalization
Here’s what you need to know about the future of marijuana legalization in the United States, from its racist beginnings to today.
While other states have moved to legalize the drug, cannabis has remained illegal in North Carolina. Yet, the sale of medical marijuana might soon begin in a part of the state that is also a sovereign nation — the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Qualla Boundary.
The EBCI is planning to officially launch the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. dispensary, managed by Qualla Enterprises, on April 20. It will be the first marijuana dispensary to open in North Carolina after the EBCI approved the sale of medical marijuana in 2021.
But this isn’t a free-for-all, open-to-the public dispensary. Before you take the trip out to the Qualla Boundary in the Great Smoky Mountains — not to be confused with Great Smoky Mountains National Park — here’s what you need to know.
Who will be able to purchase cannabis?
On March 25, The Great Smoky Cannabis Co. announced that the dispensary would only be open for the sale of medical marijuana on April 20.
Only those with an EBCI medical cannabis patient card or an out-of-state approved medical marijuana card will be eligible to purchase at the dispensary when it opens, according to a March 25 press release from the dispensary.
Where is the dispensary?
Located on the Qualla Boundary, Cherokee is a sovereign nation that has its own elections, laws, government and institutions that are self-governed and autonomous.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are one of three federally recognized sovereign nations that were once part of the larger Cherokee Tribe prior to the Trail of Tears forced removal from their land in Western North Carolina, according to the ECBI website. The other two, Cherokee Nation and the United Kituwah Band, are located in Oklahoma.
Cherokee is not to be confused with Cherokee County, North Carolina, of which parts of the Qualla Boundary are located.
Great Smoky Cannabis Co. is located at 91 Bingo Loop Road in Cherokee.
The dispensary opens at 10 a.m. April 20, and features over 10,000 square feet of retail space, three drive-through windows and a glass shop.
How much will you be able to buy?
Great Smoky Mountain Cannabis recently announced that the sale of medical marijuana will have some purchase limits.
Customers can only buy up to 1 ounce of dry cannabis flower at the dispensary per day, according to a post on the Great Smoky Mountain Cannabis Instagram. The monthly limit is 6 ounces.
As for concentrated THC products, they limit the purchase of 2,500 milligrams of concentrated THC per day. The monthly limit is 10,000 milligrams.
Why not recreational?
The dispensary is on the land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, where medical marijuana was legalized in 2021.
A September referendum on recreational marijuana indicated support for the recreational sale of the drug, but the ECBI Tribal Council has yet to pass a resolution officially allowing the recreational sale and use of marijuana.
Another Tribal Council work session on a recreational marijuana resolution is planned for 9 a.m. April 18, Tribal Council Chairman Mike Parker announced during the April 4 Tribal Council meeting.
What about legalization in North Carolina?
The possession, sale and distribution of marijuana is currently illegal under current North Carolina general statutes.
However, some low-THC products have been legalized under a 2021 state law. The law allows the sale of products with no more than 0.3% of delta-9, allowing the sale of cannabinoids like THCa and CBD.
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said that she fully intends to “enforce state laws,” even as the dispensary opens. Welch is the chief criminal prosecutor in Prosecutorial District 43, which includes Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.
“The mission, duty and privilege of the 43rd Prosecutorial District is to enforce state laws. We do not pick certain laws to enforce and ignore others,” Welch said in a April 3 statement regarding the dispensary.
The Great Smoky Cannabis website also comes with a disclaimer: “Upon leaving North Carolina’s Qualla boundary, individuals are subject to state laws, including those regarding cannabis. We recommend that individuals familiarize themselves with their relevant state laws and regulations governing cannabis activities outside of the Qualla boundary.”
The opening of the dispensary has also drawn the ire of Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards — who is running for reelection — and the state’s two senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd. Edwards introduced the Stop Pot Act in September, which would penalize states and tribes with legalized marijuana, taking 10% of their federal highway funds.
The act failed to advance past a Sept. 5 referral to a subcommittee under the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Citizen Times reported March 20.
The act has received a critical response from Democratic State Rep. Caleb Rudow — who is running for congress — and EBCI Chief Michell Hicks, who advocated against Edwards’ efforts citing the medicinal qualities of marijuana and tribal sovereignty, the Citizen Times previously reported.
Which states have legalized cannabis?
After Ohio legalized the drug in late 2023, nearly half of the United States has now legalized the drug, as reported by USA TODAY. North Carolina is not one of them.
Here’s a list of states that have legalized recreational cannabis and when it was made official:
- Ohio: 2023
- Minnesota: 2023
- Delaware: 2023
- Rhode Island: 2022
- Maryland: 2022
- Missouri: 2022
- Connecticut: 2021
- New Mexico: 2021
- New York: 2021
- Virginia: 2021
- Arizona: 2020
- Montana: 2020
- New Jersey: 2020
- Vermont: 2020
- Illinois: 2019
- Michigan: 2018
- California: 2016
- Maine: 2016
- Massachusetts: 2016
- Nevada: 2016
- District of Columbia: 2014
- Alaska: 2014
- Oregon: 2014
- Colorado: 2012
- Washington: 2012
Contributing: Orlando Mayorquin and Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY
More: As NC’s 1st cannabis dispensary opens, Cherokee Co. DA to ‘continue to enforce state law’
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
A new report says placing hardened structures along the N.C. oceanfront could help with chronic erosion woes. But they come with plenty of risk.
North Carolina’s love-hate relationship with hardened structures along the oceanfront is heating up.
From the Outer Banks in the north to Ocean Isle Beach in the south, many portions of North Carolina’s 320 miles of oceanfront are dealing with erosion woes that are threatening homes, infrastructure and coastal economies.
Coastal officials have long complained that the state’s ban, although softened in recent years, on hardened structures along the oceanfront like seawalls and jetties leaves them with few options beyond expensive beach nourishment to deal with the shifting sands.
Environmentalists and others say the ban protects the natural beauty and feel of North Carolina’s beaches while reinforcing that there are simply some places that we shouldn’t be developing. They also note that hardened structures often do little but move the erosion woes to other parts of the beachfront.
In June 2026, the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel released its draft report on the effects of hardened structures on the coast. The report, while not taking sides on the state’s four-decade-long ban on permanent structures along the beachfront, is meant to provide guidance for regulators and policymakers as they debate the emotionally charged issue.
How did we get here?
North Carolina’s existing rules on oceanfront construction are largely based on using a 30-year setback rule. The thinking was that a 30-year window of sand and dunes in front of a structure would give homeowners and local communities a chance to come up with a long-term solution if the ocean started encroaching on oceanfront properties.
But structures these days often last longer than 30 years, and the environmental conditions of the 1970s aren’t the same as those the coast is facing today.
Storms are bigger and more powerful than those of last century thanks to climate change, and sea-level rise is increasing. Sea level is expected to rise by a foot or more by 2050 from today’s levels, amplifying the impacts of tidal flooding and storms that aren’t even tropical in nature.
As environmental conditions grow more challenging, oceanfront homes are tumbling into the water. In Rodanthe and Buxton on the Outer Banks, more than 30 homes have collapsed since 2020. Closer to Wilmington, sandbags now line stretches of beachfront in North Topsail Beach, Figure Eight Island and Ocean Isle Beach, offering the last line of protection for million-dollar homes.
‘Maintain a cautious approach’
With pressure mounting on officials to come up with some solutions to disappearing beaches, the science panel was asked to look into shoreline management, both in N.C. and other states, and examine the pros and cons of different measures − particularly the use of oceanfront hardened structures.
“Recent erosion impacts in several North Carolina oceanfront communities have brought shoreline management issues back to the forefront, prompting questions about whether alternatives to beach nourishment should be considered to address chronic erosion,” states the report.
But the science panel makes it crystal clear that hardening the shoreline to prevent the natural movement of beaches and dunes landward will likely lead to, first, a narrower and then likely a disappearing beach in front of the structure. Groins and jetties, while helping the beach adjacent to them, also end up “starving” beach areas downdrift of the structures. The volunteer panel, however, also noted that securing the shoreline could offer coastal communities an economic lifeline.
“The panel therefore recommends that North Carolina maintain a cautious approach to any expansion of the use of hardened structures and that any major reconsideration of the state’s oceanfront management policies include a broad and comprehensive assessment of the physical, ecological, recreational, and economic consequences of expanded use, including consideration of who will likely benefit and who will likely suffer adverse effects, prior to policy modification,” the report states.
Legislators getting involved
As erosion threatens more oceanfront properties, infrastructure, and the coast’s vital tourism industry, legislators are taking notice and proposing solutions.
A bill working its way though the N.C. General Assembly could permanently change the face of the state’s coast. Senate Bill 1009, would lift the state ban on hardened structures, including seawalls, jetties and terminal groins, low-slung structures built perpendicular to the shoreline that helps trap sand in areas of high erosion, such as near inlets.
Proponents of the legislation say times along the coast have changed, and state policy needs to match the new realities that residents, visitors and local officials are dealing with along the oceanfront.
While current rules push beach communities to favor nourishment, enhanced dune systems, and other “natural” approaches to shoreline management, some say more permanent and immediate solutions are sometimes required.
Beach nourishment isn’t cheap, with even small projects costing millions, and can be a regulatory challenge if you have to find compatible beach sand that is often in short supply. In places like the Outer Banks, officials have said trying to maintain more than 80 miles of beachfront simply isn’t feasible under current rules and regulations. And to be truly effective, nourishments have to be repeated every few years due to natural erosion and storm-related events − heaping more pressure on state and local budgets that already face a lot of funding priorities.
Environmentalists and coastal advocates say installing hardened structures to control erosion means picking winners and losers along the oceanfront, since they will end up taking sand from other parts of the beachfront. There also can be environmental impacts, such as the loss of habitat and beaches for nesting sea turtles and shorebirds.
Greg “Rudi” Rudolph, a member of the science panel, said there’s no “magic bullet” for North Carolina’s oceanfront erosion issues, with each possible solution carrying pros and cons. He also said many of the shoreline management tools need to be done in conjunction with each other to offer a truly effective long-term solution, such as a groin and periodic nourishment.
“There are trade-offs, there are benefits, and there are costs,” Rudolph said. “That’s what makes this so challenging.”
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@usatodayco.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from Journalism Funding Partners. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The National Weather Service issued several severe thunderstorm warnings for various areas of central North Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
The final warning was allowed to expire at 4:45 p.m. for Northwestern Harnett County, Northeastern Lee County, Southwestern Wake County, and Southeastern Chatham County, according to the National Weather Service office in Raleigh.
Forecasters said the warning was triggered by a severe thunderstorm east of Sanford, moving east at 10 mph.
The warning said the main threats from the storm are 60 mph wind gusts and nickel-sized hail.
Scroll below for the latest central North Carolina weather warnings and advisories:
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A man was found dead and a juvenile was injured after a shooting early Sunday morning in Fayetteville, police said.
According to the Fayetteville Police Department, officers responded around 4:03 a.m. to multiple ShotSpotter alerts in the area of Newark Avenue.
While investigating the reports and searching for evidence, officers found numerous shell casings and discovered a man suffering from a gunshot wound in the 700 block of State Avenue.
Emergency medical personnel pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Police said a juvenile male later arrived at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with non-life-threatening gunshot injuries connected to the incident. He is listed in stable condition.
The Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit has taken over the investigation.
Police said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective E. Alrafai at 910-723-0327 or submit an anonymous tip through Fayetteville/Cumberland County Crime Stoppers.
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