North Carolina hasn’t legalized the growth or sale of marijuana yet, but the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, on the Qualla Boundary, are a sovereign nation. Two years ago, the Tribal Council approved the growth and sale of medicinal marijuana for Tribal members and just last month opened their program to anyone living in North Carolina, though its dispensary hasn't opened yet.

Jennifer Emert, an investigative reporter with WLOS-TV, recently produced a three-part series for the station about the tribe’s program and the prospects for statewide legalization. We talk through her reporting, including some tension within the tribe about the program’s fiscal responsibility and what the impact of state legalization might mean for the region’s CBD and hemp industries.

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