SCOTUS Tosses Colorado Recreational Cannabis Lawsuit

Colorado recreational cannabis businesses can relax: The U.S. Supreme Court won’t be overthrowing the state’s 2012 voter-approved law.

The court announced Monday morning that it had decided by a 6-2 vote not to take up the case, which was brought by the attorneys general of Nebraska and Oklahoma in 2014. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented and said they would have heard the suit. No opinion from the majority was published.

“The justices correctly decided that this lawsuit is without merit and that states should be able to move forward with implementing voter-approved legalization laws even if their neighbors don’t like it,” Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority, said in a statement.

The fight may not be over, however, according to the Denver Post. The paper reported that Nebraska and Oklahoma can still take their case to federal district court, but the attorneys general for the states have not yet indicated whether they’ll do so or just drop the case.