The Asheville Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is investing millions of dollars in a new warehouse, thinking about its future and how it could house more than just liquor.

The board is gathering information about how it could distribute cannabis, should North Carolina or the federal government legalize the drug.

The Asheville ABC Board is in charge of distributing liquor in the city. Their sales have exploded with the recent boom of tourism, restaurants, and hospitality.

“The Asheville ABC board has grown from $22 million in sales in 2011 to going on $37 million this year,” said the board’s general manager, Mark Combs.

They’re investing more than $3 million in a warehouse set to open next Spring. They’re also considering a future distributing more than just liquor. Tuesday night, Combs and the ABC board’s chairman made a presentation to the Asheville City Council, which is their approving body.

“One of the slides that we presented was our strategic plan for the future, what could happen with what we’re doing now and what we could be doing in the next decade,” Combs said.

One of the bullet points was cannabis. The ABC Board wants to be prepared should North Carolina legalize the drug.

“We are poised with the control system that we have, the stores and the experience that we have with working and selling a controlled substance that perhaps sometime in the future…if that were to be legalized in North Carolina through the legislature, we would be poised to provide that particular sales to this community,” Combs said.

He said their building has enough space to allow the board to expand its operations for up to 40 years, whether that includes cannabis or not.

The board is neutral when it comes to legalizing the drug.