Pubdate: Tue, 05 May 2015 Source: Oklahoman, The (OK) Copyright: 2015 The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines Website: http://newsok.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318 Author: Chris Casteel SUPREME COURT REQUESTS ADVICE IN OK POT LAWSUIT WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court asked Monday for the Obama administration's views on whether Oklahoma and Nebraska should be able to sue Colorado over its marijuana laws. The court sometimes asks the solicitor general - the president's advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court - for input on a case justices potentially will hear. A spokesman for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt said the president's Justice Department - which is now being asked for its views - is actually part of the problem. "Attorney General Pruitt anxiously awaits an explanation from the Obama administration as to its continued refusal to enforce federal law, specifically the Controlled Substances Act," Aaron Cooper said Monday. "The administration's wholesale disregard for the law led Oklahoma and Nebraska to sue Colorado to stop the stream of illegal marijuana flowing into our states as a result of Colorado's legalization of the commercial production and sale of marijuana." The Supreme Court has not decided whether to allow the lawsuit to move forward. The request for the solicitor general's views is likely to delay - perhaps until this fall - the court's decision on advancing the case. Oklahoma and Nebraska asked for the court's permission in December to sue Colorado over certain aspects of its marijuana legalization plan. The states claim laws allowing the manufacture, possession and distribution of pot have led to more illegal drugs crossing state lines. Colorado fires back Colorado countered to the Supreme Court in March that Oklahoma and Nebraska "filed this case in an attempt to reach across their borders and selectively invalidate state laws with which they disagree." Colorado Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman, while defending her state in court, issued a statement saying that leadership from Washington on drug policy was "noticeably absent." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom