The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on Thursday legalized the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana on their Western North Carolina land.
Tribal members and non-members will be able to buy marijuana from a planned dispensary on tribal land, known as the Qualla Boundary, tribal leaders told The Charlotte Observer.
Here’s what we know:
Q. What did the tribal council approve?
A. An ordinance that creates a legal framework for the cultivation, sale and use of medical marijuana on the Qualla Boundary.
Q. Medical marijuana is illegal in North Carolina, right?
A. Correct. Medical use of cannabis products is legal in 36 other states, and four U.S. territories, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Eighteen states, two territories and the District of Columbia legally allow small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use, according to the conference.
Rep. Kelly Alexander of Charlotte has introduced many bills to legalize marijuana, including one this year that also stands little or no chance of becoming law.
He’s more optimistic about Senate Bill 711, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state. In July, the Senate Finance Committee approved the bill, which has bipartisan support. The bill was still in committee as of Wednesday.
Q. How can the Cherokee legally sell medical marijuana?
A. The Cherokee maintain a sovereign nation in Western North Carolina, the Qualla Boundary, about an hour west of Asheville. While the tribe “has relationships with” the state and federal governments, according to its website, the tribe “is a sovereign nation, meaning it has its own laws, elections, government, institutions, and the like.”
Q. I’m not a tribal member. Can I buy medical marijuana from the Cherokee dispensary when it opens?
A. Yes, if you are a medically qualified patient over age 21 who applies for and receives a medical marijuana card from the planned tribal Cannabis Control Board.
Such cards typically require your doctor’s signature on a document stating how the marijuana could help alleviate a medical condition.
The tribe realizes that N.C. doctors could get in trouble for doing that, given that the state legislature has yet to legalize medical marijuana, Jeremy Wilson, governmental affairs liaison for Principal Chief Richard Sneed told the Observer.
The tribal Cannabis Control Board would allow a sale if the patient provides private health records showing they have a condition that medical marijuana could help alleviate, Wilson said. The patient’s records would remain confidential, he said.
The Control Board also would accept a medical marijuana card a patient obtained from a state or tribe where medical marijuana is legal, according to Wilson.
Q. Who will license the Cherokee medical marijuana?
A. The tribe, through its Cannabis Control Board, “will license all cultivation, processing, dispensary and laboratory locations,” according to a news release announcing the tribal council’s approval of medical marijuana.
The five-member board will be composed of experts in health care, law enforcement, the cannabis industry, business and management.
Q. How much medical marijuana will I be able to buy?
A. A limit of one ounce of medical cannabis per day, not to exceed six ounces per month. A limit of 2,500 mg of THC in medical cannabis products per day, not to exceed 10,000 mg of THC per month.
Q. When does the medical marijuana program begin?
A. The Cherokee haven’t announced a timeline for their medical cannabis program — when cultivation will begin, or when marijuana will become available for purchase.