North Carolina has no state medical marijuana program. The only legal medical cannabis card available to NC residents is issued by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Here is how a Fayetteville resident obtains one.
Use the booking widget on this site to select an available time. Your appointment is with a North Carolina-licensed MD or DO. The clinic's consultation fee is paid at booking. The visit takes place over real-time video from anywhere in Fayetteville. The provider reviews your medical history against the 18 qualifying conditions recognized by the EBCI Cannabis Control Board.
If a qualifying condition applies, the provider completes and signs the EBCI Doctor's Attestation form — the document the Cannabis Control Board requires. This is an attestation confirming a diagnosis, not a prescription or recommendation. The EBCI program does not require a doctor's prescription for cannabis. You receive the signed attestation to include with your EBCI application.
Submit your signed Doctor's Attestation, a government-issued ID showing NC residency, and a compliant photo through the EBCI online patient portal. Pay the $100 patient card fee directly to the Cannabis Control Board. Once approved, your Medical Cannabis Patient Card is valid for one year on Tribal land at the Great Smoky Cannabis Company dispensary in Cherokee, NC.
Whether you're in Downtown Fayetteville, Haymount, Hope Mills, Westover, or anywhere across Cumberland County — your NC-licensed provider is a real-time video call away. The Doctor's Attestation step happens at home; you then apply to the EBCI Cannabis Control Board.
Direct answers sourced from the EBCI Cannabis Control Board for Fayetteville residents navigating the only legal medical cannabis pathway in North Carolina.
Fayetteville is the sixth-most populous city in North Carolina — a community of more than 208,000 residents in Cumberland County, located along the Cape Fear River in the Sandhills region. Despite Fayetteville's size, North Carolina remains one of a small number of states without a comprehensive state medical marijuana program. For Fayetteville residents seeking legal medical cannabis, the only path runs through the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians — a sovereign tribal nation whose Cannabis Control Board issues the only legal medical cannabis card available to North Carolina residents. This platform connects Fayetteville patients with NC-licensed MDs and DOs who can sign the Doctor's Attestation the EBCI program requires.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally recognized sovereign tribal nation in western North Carolina. In 2021, the Tribal Council voted to legalize medical cannabis on Tribal land, and in 2023 the EBCI Cannabis Control Board began accepting applications from North Carolina residents statewide. The patient pathway is straightforward: obtain a signed Doctor's Attestation from a licensed NC provider, apply to the CCB through the EBCI online patient portal with a government-issued NC ID and a compliant photo, pay the $100 fee, and receive a one-year Medical Cannabis Patient Card.
The EBCI program does not require a prescription or a recommendation for cannabis. Per the EBCI Cannabis Control Board FAQ, applicants need only submit written documentation of one or more of the 18 qualifying conditions. That documentation can be a Doctor's Attestation — a form the provider signs confirming the diagnosis — or a Medical Summary. The provider is attesting to a diagnosed condition, not prescribing a treatment. Patients are not required to submit their full medical record.
The Medical Cannabis Patient Card is valid only on Tribal land — the Qualla Boundary near Cherokee, NC. Cannabis purchased there cannot legally be taken off Tribal land; it remains illegal under both North Carolina state law and federal law everywhere else. The dispensary, Great Smoky Cannabis Company, is at 91 Bingo Loop Road in Cherokee — approximately approximately three and a half hours from Fayetteville. Fayetteville patients should plan their visit accordingly.