Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jan 2015
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2015 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463
Author: Barbara Hoberock
Page: 1

MARIJUANA SUIT SEES OPPOSITION

Some Oklahoma Legislators Are Against the AG's Decision to Join a 
Lawsuit Against Colorado.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Some Oklahoma lawmakers disagree with Attorney 
General Scott Pruitt's decision to file suit over Colorado's 
legalization of marijuana.

Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, said the lawsuit filed last month by 
Pruitt and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning undermines states' rights.

In their lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, Pruitt and Bruning 
are asking that the Colorado law be deemed unconstitutional and 
tossed out, and they are asking the nation's highest court to force 
the federal government to enforce federal law prohibiting the sale of 
marijuana. They also seek to recover their legal costs for filing the suit.

Pruitt, who has pushed back in other cases against what he calls 
federal intrusion into states' rights, responded in a statement 
Monday that the lawsuit challenges "only that portion of Colorado's 
law that does invoke our state's rights: the interstate trafficking 
of an illegal drug under Oklahoma law."

Colorado passed its law as a ballot initiative on Nov. 6, 2012. The 
lawsuit alleges that since the implementation of the Colorado law, 
Oklahoma and Nebraska have seen "a significant influx of 
Colorado-sourced marijuana," which increases state costs for things 
such as apprehension, incarceration and prosecution.

Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia allow the use of 
marijuana for medical purposes. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 
that the federal government has the right to outlaw the drug, but it 
did not overturn existing state marijuana laws.

Since then, Colorado and a few other states legalized marijuana sales 
to the general public, with limits on the quantity sold.

The Obama administration has said it will not attempt to enforce 
federal marijuana laws that conflict with state laws.

"This is not about marijuana at its core," Ritze said. "It is about 
the U.S. Constitution, the Tenth Amendment, and the right of states 
to govern themselves as they see fit. If the Supreme Court can force 
Colorado to criminalize a substance or activity and commandeer state 
resources to enforce extra-constitutional federal statutes and United 
Nations agreements, then it can essentially do anything, and states 
become mere administrative units for Washington, D.C."

Pruitt was not available for an interview Monday but said in his 
written statement that "the representative is right to be concerned 
about any effort by a state to challenge the authority of another 
state to legalize marijuana within its own borders."

"I appreciate his concern, and I agree with him," Pruitt continued. 
"However, Oklahoma's lawsuit does not challenge in any manner or form 
Colorado's legalization of marijuana for use and possession for 
intrastate purposes.

"Rather, we are challenging only that portion of Colorado's law that 
does invoke our state's rights: the interstate trafficking of an 
illegal drug under Oklahoma law. We will continue to work with the 
representative and others to ensure this critical distinction is 
communicated so as to hopefully address any confusion over the 
lawsuit's objectives."

Ritze and six other lawmakers sent Pruitt a letter asking him to 
"quietly drop the action against Colorado, and if necessary, defend 
the state's right to set its own policies, as we hope other states 
would defend our right to govern ourselves within constitutional 
confines. "We also do not feel that attempting to undermine the 
sovereignty of a neighboring state using the federal courts, even if 
inadvertently, is a wise use of Oklahoma's limited state resources."

The six others who signed the letter are Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Arcadia; 
Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw; Rep. Mike Christian, R-Oklahoma City; 
Rep. Dan Fisher, R-El Reno; Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City; and 
Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom