Oklahoma Will Pursue Colorado Rec Lawsuit

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt doesn’t care that the Obama administration thinks the U.S. Supreme Court should keep mum on Colorado’s recreational marijuana law. He wants the justices to rule on the matter.

Pruitt and his Nebraska counterpart filed a lawsuit a year ago alleging that Colorado’s rec law does direct harm to both their states by increasing the illegal flow of cannabis through their borders. The two asked the high court to nullify the law. Pruitt’s office said on Monday that he plans to file written arguments with the nation’s high court in January, the Associated Press reported.

“States aren’t required to criminalize marijuana or enforce federal law. That is not what Oklahoma’s lawsuit is about,” Pruitt said, according to the AP. “The Obama administration has turned a blind eye, emboldening states like Colorado to set up systems that encourage the commercialization and trafficking of a substance illegal under federal law.”

If the Supreme Court does decide to take up the case – it has the discretion not to hear it at all – the ramifications of a ruling will certainly have an enormous impact on the industry, for good or ill.