Qualla Enterprises, LLC, is thrilled to announce the grand opening of the Great Smoky Cannabis Company on April 20, 2024 at 10 A.M. Our world-class dispensary is a seed-to-sale operation. Upon opening, this facility promises to revolutionize the landscape of medical cannabis on the Qualla Boundary.
With a commitment to quality, compassion, and education, Great Smoky Cannabis Co. aims to provide patients with safe and regulated access to medicinal cannabis products. The new dispensary will open with high-quality tested products—including flower, vape products, edibles, topicals, and more—carefully curated to meet the diverse needs of patients. Product selection will continue to grow and evolve each month.
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About EBCI CCB
The Cannabis Control Board (CCB) is the office of the EBCI tribal government responsible for regulation of the medical cannabis industry. The CCB issues licenses for medical cannabis businesses, agent cards for the individuals managing and working in medical cannabis businesses, and patient cards for individuals who qualify to have access to medical cannabis. Cherokee Code Chapter 17 governs the medical cannabis industry, including the authority and responsibilities of the CCB.
Asheville's 3.1% unemployment rate in February was the lowest in the state as the new national jobs report shows hundreds of thousands of jobs created surpassed experts' predictions for the United States.
Local data shows there are also thousands more jobs than the area had five years ago before the COVID pandemic. The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce reports Western North Carolina has more than 17,000 available jobs. The region has large sectors of industry that have vacancies much like industries nationally. From HCA-owned Mission Hospital to the Pratt and Whitney jet engine parts plant, there are thousands of available jobs in the area.
“Both GE and Pratt and Whitney are literally hiring hundreds of new employees this year alone,” said Clark Duncan, executive director of the Asheville Buncombe County Economic Development Coalition. “We have two job openings for every unemployed person seeking a job today.”
Buncombe County has proposed to join N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein’s lawsuit against HCA Healthcare and Mission Health, seeking millions of dollars in damages for what it describes as excessive wait times and extra work for its emergency services crews when they transport patients to the hospital.
Buncombe filed a motion to intervene in Stein’s case April 3, alleging that, in effect, the hospital has relied on EMS to provide care because it has inadequately staffed its emergency department, leading to overcrowding. It seeks more than $3 million in damages from HCA and Mission.
“We owe it to the taxpayers to try to recoup that money, anything we could do to send a message to HCA to comply with their asset purchase agreement,” County Attorney Michael Frue told Asheville Watchdog. “They need to comply with that. And not only that, they need to bring their services up to standard as is set out in the AG’s complaint and our complaint. They owe it to the community to provide the best service possible and not to cut corners.”
In its filing in Buncombe County Superior Court and N.C. Business Court, the county cited Stein’s statement in his December lawsuit that “HCA has co-opted paramedics as employees of its own but stuck the taxpayers with the bill.”
Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell responded to the county’s action, saying, “We’ve received the motion, and we will continue to defend the lawsuit vigorously.”
When the Cherokee Lady Braves clinched the 1A state title for high school women’s basketball, it was bigger than the team.
“We felt like we were bringing something that the whole nation had fought for,” Lady Braves coach Ann Gardner said, referring to the Eastern Band of Cherokee. “These girls don’t just play for themselves. They play for all of those that are around them and all those that have come before them … for their love of their nation, the love for their tribe, the love for their elders.”
The championship game was a larger-than-life community affair. The team represents the only high school on the Qualla Boundary, the home of the federally recognized tribe of the Eastern Band of Cherokee.
For junior forward Kyla Moore, their bond transcends what you’d see on a typical sports team.
“Just going back to the Trail of Tears … we are one. We were united as one. We do everything together. We travel together. We support one another. We’re just always there,” she said. “And there’s not really, you know, like any other way to describe it except we’re going to be there for one another.”
Hundreds of Cherokee residents piled into buses to pack the stands in Winston-Salem on game day, hoping for the first championship win since the Lady Braves took home the title in 1996. Those who couldn’t make the trip watched a livestream of the game at the local movie theater or at one of the several local restaurants screening it.
Thanks for stopping by, wishing all a fine weekend.
“Be safe out there” Lamont Cranston