Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jan 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Ricardo Baca, The Cannabist

POT SPLIT IN OKLAHOMA

Some State Lawmakers Oppose a Lawsuit Against Colorado, Citing the 
Importance of States' Rights.

Some Oklahoma lawmakers are asking the state's attorney general to 
drop his lawsuit against Colorado- and the state representatives and 
senators are saying they might join Colorado as defendants if the U. 
S. Supreme Court takes the case.

"This is not about the legalization of marijuana," said Republican 
state Rep. Mike Ritze, who wrote a stern, three-page letter to the 
state's Attorney General Scott Pruitt. "It's about states' rights." 
Oklahoma's lawsuit, which was filed with Nebraska as co-plaintiff, 
argues that "the State of Colorado has created a dangerous gap in the 
federal drug control system."

Oklahoma and Nebraska filed the lawsuit in mid- December with the U. 
S. Supreme Court.

The court has not responded to the lawsuit, and it might be years 
before it accepts or turns down the motion.

Ritze, who leads the Oklahoma House's public health committee and is 
a state certified surgeon and physician, delivered the letter to 
Pruitt's office on New Year's Eve with the signatures of six other 
state lawmakers.

The letter said Oklahoma's "lawsuit against Colorado is the wrong way 
to deal with the issue" primarily because of its potential 
implications "for states' rights, the Tenth Amendment and the ability 
of states and citizens to govern themselves as they see fit."

Pruitt responded by saying the lawsuit challenges only a portion of 
Colorado's law and that he "will immediately terminate" the lawsuit 
if states' rights are ever at risk.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom