Pubdate: Sat, 16 Apr 2016
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2016 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Robert Boczkiewicz

OK'S ATTORNEY GENERAL CONTINUES EFFORT TO OVERTURN COLORADO'S MARIJUANA LAW

DENVER - Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is trying a new 
tactic in his fight to have Colorado's legalization of recreational 
use of marijuana overturned.

Pruitt and his Nebraska counterpart are asking an appeals court to 
allow them to join a court case that may decide whether federal law 
against marijuana pre-empts Colorado's legalization.

The two attorneys general on Thursday jointly asked the 10th U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals to allow them to intervene in the case. 
Opponents of legalized marijuana are pursuing that case at the 
Denver-based appeals court.

The appeal seeks to overturn a lower court decision. It concluded the 
opponents had no right to sue on their claim that federal law 
preempts Colorado's legalization.

The Oklahoma and Nebraska attorneys general contend that marijuana 
coming from Colorado has burdened law enforcement authorities in 
their two states, where marijuana is illegal.

Protecting citizens

"Because the people of Nebraska and Oklahoma have determined the 
marijuana is harmful and should be illegal, Nebraska and Oklahoma 
have a duty to protect their citizens from the continuing harms 
resulting from Colorado's illegal activities," the attorneys general 
wrote in Thursday's request to the appeals court.

The two states' request to join the appeal is a new tactic after the 
U.S. Supreme Court on March 21 refused to allow them to sue Colorado.

Thursday's filing states that some defendants in the pending appeal 
opposes the request of Oklahoma and Nebraska to intervene in it. 
Those defendants are officials of Pueblo County, Colo., who have 
licensed marijuana businesses in that county.

The appellate judges are not expected to decide before late this 
month whether to allow the two attorneys general to join the case and 
submit arguments against Colorado's position. The appellate judges 
are not expected to decide until at least later this year a basic 
issue of the appeal: whether federal law pre-empts Colorado's legalization.

One opponent who sued in the case that is on appeal is Safe Streets 
Alliance, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., that 
supports enforcement of federal drug laws. Another opponent who sued 
owns land adjacent to a pot grow site in Pueblo County.

Comparison failed

In their unsuccessful effort at the Supreme Court, Oklahoma and 
Nebraska likened Colorado to a drug cartel that is causing 
drug-related problems in their states and others.

Colorado voters in 2012 approved a state constitutional amendment 
that allows, with restrictions, recreational use of marijuana. The 
state has a regulated process for cultivation and distribution.

The state and local governments raise revenue from marijuana users 
and businesses.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom