Cherokee chief vetoes $64 million for medical marijuana superstore. What we know.

The principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has vetoed spending a final $64 million to open the tribe’s long-anticipated medical cannabis dispensary in Western North Carolina.

In a Facebook message to tribal members Friday, Richard Sneed said he vetoed the Tribal Council’s recent approval of the final $64 million for the project because the original proposal said the entire project would be completed for $50 million.

Sneed attached a copy of a letter he sent to Tribal Council Chairman Richard French informing him of his veto and his reason.

“The fact that this project’s original cost for an outdoor grow, an indoor grow and an indoor dispensary was $50m, and we are now being told it is $95m, demonstrates that there is an immediate need for a full accounting of the money that has been expended to date,” Sneed wrote.

Sneed told French he “fully supports cannabis, both medical and adult use.” He also is “encouraged and inspired” by tribal workers at the growing operation at Cooper’s Creek on the tribe’s Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, he added.

The operation is run by Qualla Enterprises LLC, the tribe’s for-profit medical cannabis arm.

Yet, Sneed told French, “I am very troubled by the lack of accountability for the managing of the business side of the operation. The current projected cost is almost 100% over budget as compared to the original RFP projected cost.” RFP stands for “request for proposals.”

It wasn’t immediately clear Saturday how Sneed’s veto will affect the opening of the dispensary on U.S. 19 South near Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

Forrest Parker, Qualla Enterprises’ general manager, planned to give a statement to The Charlotte Observer Saturday afternoon, Qualla Enterprises executive assistant Kara Howard said.

On an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the growing operation in late March, Parker told the Observer he expects the mega dispensary to open “in a limited capacity” in late summer or fall.

The Cherokee are converting their massive old bingo hall into the dispensary that is a first of its kind in North Carolina — the only location that would be in a three-hour’s drive from Charlotte where weed is sold legally.

The Cherokee’s 57,000-acre territory is a sovereign nation outside the bounds of North Carolina’s prohibition on marijuana.

The EBCI Tribal Council first voted about two years ago to legalize controlled use of marijuana on Cherokee land and to grow and sell it.

On April 6, the council approved backing a loan of about $64 million to complete the medical marijuana project, lifting EBCI’s total investment to about $95 million, the Observer previously reported. Non-gaming tribal revenues will fund the investment, Parker said.

“We just want to get funded, because we’re under-capitalized,” Parker told the council before its 6-to-3 vote in favor of backing the loan.

In 2022, Parker said, North Carolina had the second highest illicit cannabis market in the United States at $3.2 billion, behind only Texas.

“It is past time that some portion of those folks, and many others, get the chance to buy medical cannabis that is tested, regulated and safe,” Parker said.