Adults 21 and over can legally purchase marijuana within the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians boundary beginning on Sept. 7. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened a dispensary, The Great Smoky Cannabis Dispensary, on April 20, “the first of its kind in North Carolina,” according to a News 13 article. A referendum was then passed in July to begin recreational sales, following a 2021 ordinance approved by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which legalized medical cannabis within the qualla boundary.