Pubdate: Sat, 28 Mar 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold

STATE ASKS HIGH COURT TO REJECT SUIT

AG Coffan Says Neb., Okla. Are Meddling With Colorado Pot Laws

Arguing that two neighboring states are dangerously meddling with 
Colorado's marijuana laws, state Attorney General Cynthia Coffman on 
Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a landmark lawsuit 
filed by Nebraska and Oklahoma over marijuana legalization.

In a brief submitted in response to the lawsuit, Coffman wrote that 
Nebraska and Oklahoma "filed this case in an attempt to reach across 
their borders and selectively invalidate state laws with which they disagree."

The two states' lawsuit seeks to strike down Colorado's licensing of 
recreational marijuana stores. Nebraska and Oklahoma officials argue 
that the stores have caused a flood of marijuana into their states, 
stretching their law enforcement agencies thin and threatening their 
sovereignty.

But Coffman argued the lawsuit, if successful, would only worsen 
problems involving black-market marijuana in all three states. 
Colorado's regulations for marijuana stores "are designed to channel 
demand away from this black market and into a licensed and closely 
monitored retail system," she wrote.

If the stores are closed, Colorado would be left with laws that 
legalize marijuana use but do not regulate its supply.

"This is a recipe for more cross-border trafficking, not less," Coffman wrote.

Friday's brief is the first time Colorado officials have had to make 
a full-throated argument in favor of the state's marijuana 
legalization laws. In doing so, the brief spends several pages noting 
states' lengthy history of trying to regulate marijuana, "a product 
whose use is staggeringly widespread." Nearly half of all states now 
have laws legalizing recreational or medical use of marijuana, the 
brief states.

In addition to Coffman, Colorado's solicitor general and four other 
lawyers at the attorney general's office are listed as authors of the brief.

Nebraska and Oklahoma filed their lawsuit directly with the Supreme 
Court because it involves a dispute between states. Before the 
lawsuit gets a hearing, the nation's highest court must first decide 
whether to take up the case. There is no timeline for the decision.

The lawsuit does not challenge Colorado's laws for medical marijuana 
use or sales, nor does it seek to strike down laws legalizing 
recreational marijuana use and possession. Instead, Nebraska and 
Oklahoma argue in the lawsuit that Colorado's licensing of marijuana 
stores "has created a dangerous gap in the federal drug control system."

"Marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining 
Plaintiff States' own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and 
placing stress on their criminal justice systems," the lawsuit alleges.

In a statement Friday, Coffman -- a Republican who opposed marijuana 
legalization -- said she shares Nebraska and Oklahoma's concerns 
about illegal marijuana trafficking.

Coffman's brief, though, pins the blame for that trafficking not on 
Colorado's marijuana stores but on "third parties who illegally 
divert marijuana across state lines." The brief points to the recent 
indictments of 32 people accused in a massive marijuana smuggling 
ring as evidence that Colorado authorities are continuing to bust traffickers.

Colorado's laws received support Friday from Coffman's counterparts 
in Washington state and Oregon -- where recreational marijuana is also legal.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Friday in support of Colorado's 
laws, Washington and Oregon attorneys general argue that Colorado's 
laws don't hurt Nebraska and Oklahoma's abilities to enforce their own laws.

"Nebraska and Oklahoma retain the constitutional powers of every 
other sovereign State in the nation," the brief argues. "They can 
investigate and prosecute persons who violate their laws; neither is 
powerless to address marijuana within their borders."

The interstate lawsuit is the most high-profile of four cases that 
have been filed against marijuana legalization in Colorado.

The three other lawsuits -- two by Colorado residents upset about 
marijuana businesses moving nearby and one by several Colorado 
sheriffs who believe marijuana legalization forces them to violate 
their oath of office -- are pending in federal district court in Denver.
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