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COURT URGED TO REJECT POT LAWSUIT

WASHINGTON ( AP ) - Despite its opposition to making marijuana use legal, the Obama administration is urging the Supreme Court to reject a lawsuit from Nebraska and Oklahoma that seeks to declare Colorado's pot legalization unconstitutional.

The Justice Department's top courtroom lawyer said in a brief filed Wednesday that the interstate dispute over a measure approved by Colorado voters in 2012 does not belong at the high court.

Nebraska and Oklahoma filed their lawsuit directly with the Supreme Court in December 2014, arguing that Colorado's law allowing recreational-marijuana use by adults runs afoul of federal anti-drug laws.  States can sue each other in the Supreme Court, a rare instance in which the justices are not hearing appeals of lowercourt rulings.

The two states complained that Colorado's action has hindered efforts to enforce anti-marijuana laws in their states.  They say combating marijuana that's coming across the border is a drain on their resources.

The Obama administration "steadfastly opposes legalization of marijuana," the White House says on its website.  But the administration also has said that it would not stand in the way of states that want to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana as long as there are effective controls to keep marijuana away from kids, the black market and federal property.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a group that advocates for less-restrictive drug laws, praised the move.