DOJ to 'look into' Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians cannabis industry, Bondi tells Tillis – The Asheville Citizen Times
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department would look into allegations made by Sen. Thom Tillis that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians marijuana operation is marketing products to children and is transporting cannabis across boundary lines when in transport to the nearby dispensary. Principal Chief Michell Hicks has rejected allegations that the program goes against federal law.
Around four hours into the Senate’s Oct. 7 oversight hearing on the Department of Justice — during which Democratic lawmakers sparred with Attorney General Pam Bondi over issues of National Guard deployment to U.S. cities, investigations into President Donald Trump’s political opponents and the Jeffery Epstein case — Tillis turned the committee’s focus to the Great Smoky Cannabis Co., the south’s only Indigenous cannabis program. The cannabis company’s colorful, Halloween-themed marketing materials and an aerial image of a cannabis farm were printed out 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 in another non-contiguous part of the boundary,” Tillis said just after suggesting marketing materials may go against federal law and “prey on younger people.” Tillis’s suggestion is that the company is using non-tribal, public roads to transport their product.
“I will absolutely have my team look into that issue,” Bondi responded. It’s the first time a federal official has responded to lawmaker concerns around the tribal program. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on the statement, but Bondi said during the hearing it would go against federal law to transport marijuana across state or tribal lines.
Based in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Qualla Boundary, Great Smoky Cannabis Co. is a tribal-backed cannabis operation that opened in April 2024 for medical sales and then launched a public recreational program in September 2024. The operation is the only legal recreational marijuana operation in North Carolina, the result of five years-worth of tribal investment into the operation’s farm and facility. Once customers leave the boundary with the product, it is illegal to possess.
Though the marijuana is illegal federally and in North Carolina, the EBCI — located primarily in the WNC mountain counties of Swain and Jackson, with smaller parts in Cherokee, Graham and Haywood — is a sovereign nation with its own elections, laws, government and institutions that are self-governed and autonomous. It’s independent status has not stopped Rep. Chuck Edwards, Sen. Ted Budd and Tillis from frequently questioning the legality of the EBCI operation.
In response to efforts to launch the dispensary, Edwards filed the “Stop Pot Act” in 2023, seeking to penalize states and tribes that have legalized marijuana by withholding 10% of Federal Highway Administration Funds from governments that violate federal law under the Controlled Substances Act. The bill died in committee. A spokesperson from Edwards’s office did not respond to the Citizen Times request for comment before deadline. In early 2024, Budd and Tillis sent a letter to eight government officials questioning the tribe’s legalization of the drug and whether it followed federal law.
In 2023, tribal lawmakers expressed that transportation plans had been an issue in selling initial products, the Citizen Times reported, leading to plans being drawn up for both air and ground transport. Now, they say their current methods follow federal law.
In a letter on social media Oct. 9, Hicks said Tillis’s statements “mischaracterized the Tribe’s lawful and transparent activities related to the cultivation, transportation and marketing of cannabis products on EBCI lands” by repeating the same “false claims” he made in the 2024 letter. All cannabis that goes through the dispensary is regulated by the EBCI Cannabis Control Board and the “seed to sale” operation is one of the largest of its kind in the country. The over 10,000 square-foot dispensary — marketed online as being the “world’s largest dispensary” — contains a drive-thru, edible kitchen and grow room.
“Our operations are fully compliant with federal and tribal law, guided by safety, transparency and accountability. Senator Tillis’ attacks are not about legality; they are about ego,” Hicks said in the letter. “To suggest the EBCI would endanger children through marketing or sales practices is inaccurate and it is offensive to the values that guide our tribe.”
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. Consider supporting this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.