Great Smoky Cannabis Co. — Cherokee, NC Dispensary

Last verified: April 2026

The Address and the Building

Great Smoky Cannabis Co. sits at 91 Bingo Loop Road, Cherokee, NC 28719, in the heart of the Qualla Boundary. The building is a converted 10,000 sq ft former tribal bingo hall with a drive-thru window, a sales floor, and an on-site ATM bank. Cultivation does not happen at the retail location. The grow operation is on a 22.5-acre farm at Coopers Creek Road, Ela (Swain County), in the Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) community of the Qualla Boundary.

By March 2025, the cultivation and processing facility was producing roughly 13,000 pre-rolls per day. The dispensary markets itself as the “world’s largest dispensary,” a claim grounded in floor area and pre-roll throughput rather than gross sales.

Who Runs It

Qualla Enterprises LLC, the EBCI tribal cannabis subsidiary, operates Great Smoky Cannabis Co. The general manager is Forrest G. Parker, an EBCI tribal member who has been the public face of the operation since pre-launch. The board chair is Carolyn West, who personally made the first non-medical, non-tribal-restricted purchase when adult-use sales opened to all adults 21+ on September 7, 2024.

Qualla Enterprises LLC operates Great Smoky Cannabis Co. as a wholly tribal-owned business under Cherokee Code Chapter 17 and the EBCI Cannabis Control Board.

EBCI Cannabis Control Board

How It Got Funded

The funding history was contentious. In late 2022, Parker requested $64 million in startup capital. Tribal Council unanimously approved the request on April 6, 2023. Then-Principal Chief Richard Sneed vetoed the appropriation on May 3, 2023, citing a National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) memo barring the use of gaming revenue for the project. The veto was sustained.

The build-out was financed instead through tribe-guaranteed loans plus $10 million in tax revenue. Total reported renovation cost came to $50 million. On September 4, 2024, Tribal Council passed Resolution 576, which converted a $50 million February 2024 promissory note into equity. As part of that conversion, Qualla Enterprises agreed to pay dividend distributions of at least $5 million per year to the tribe beginning calendar year 2025.

What It Sells

The product mix follows a typical full-service adult-use dispensary: flower, pre-rolls, vape cartridges, concentrates, edibles, tinctures, and topicals. Pre-rolls are the highest-volume category, given the in-house cultivation throughput. All product is grown and processed on EBCI tribal land — nothing is imported across state lines.

For the specific transaction limits that apply to adult-use customers and medical cardholders, see the eligibility & purchase page.

Mobile Ordering and the App

Great Smoky Cannabis Co. supports mobile ordering through its app. Customers can browse the menu, place an order, and pick up at the counter or drive-thru. The app was specifically referenced by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) at his October 7, 2025 Senate Judiciary hearing as evidence of the operation’s commercial scale — see the sovereignty & federal posture page for that exchange.

Payment Methods — A Live Question

The dispensary launched cash-only with on-site ATMs in April 2024, the standard posture for cannabis retail given federal banking constraints. Reporting from the Asheville Citizen-Times in 2025, together with the dispensary’s own mobile ordering app, suggests debit card acceptance has since been added. This should be confirmed directly with the dispensary before traveling. Credit cards remain unavailable. ATMs on premises typically charge a per-transaction fee; bring cash if you want to avoid surcharges.

The Drive-Thru

The drive-thru is one of the dispensary’s distinctive features — rare even in fully legal states. It is intended for pre-ordered pickup and is subject to the same ID verification as the indoor sales floor. Anyone in the vehicle who appears to be under 21 may be required to present ID.

Hours and Visiting

Hours can shift seasonally and around tribal holidays. Verify current hours on the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. website or the dispensary app before traveling. The Qualla Boundary is a working community, not a mainland tourist destination — weekday morning visits typically see shorter lines than Friday and Saturday afternoons. For the broader travel logistics, see the visiting Cherokee page.

The Bigger Operation

By March 2025, Qualla Enterprises had grown to 225+ employees, up from 93 at the April 2024 medical opening and roughly 160 at the September 2024 adult-use launch. Roughly nine in ten staff members are EBCI enrolled members. The company has set internal employment targets of 350–500. The operation is the tribe’s primary diversification play beyond gaming, with the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise still returning roughly $422.6 million to the tribe in FY2024 — cannabis is a distant second to gaming in absolute dollars but represents the largest non-gaming revenue project in tribal history.

Explore the Cherokee Channel