Scott Pruitt wanted to sue Colorado over its pot policy. The Supreme Court said no.
In 2012, Colorado passed a law legalizing the sale of marijuana for recreational use and setting up a system to regulate its production and sale.
In response, the Obama administration announced it wouldn't enforce the federal Controlled Substances Act in regards to legal marijuana in Colorado. Under the act, marijuana remains illegal on the federal level.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a frequent critic of the Obama administration, wasn't happy. Earlier this year, Pruitt, along with the Nebraska attorney general, sought to sue Colorado to overturn its new marijuana statute.
In written arguments submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the two attorneys general argued that Colorado now “authorizes, oversees, protects, and profits from a sprawling $100-million-per-month marijuana growing, processing, and retailing organization that exported thousands of pounds of marijuana to some 36 States in 2014."
“If this entity were based south of our border, the federal government would prosecute it as a drug cartel," the attorneys general wrote.
States must get permission from the Supreme Court before bringing legal action against each other. The court refused to grant that permission, so the lawsuit died, and recreational marijuana remains legal in Colorado.
Click here to read more on the case from the Oklahoman's Chris Casteel.
Silas Allen is a news reporter for The Oklahoman. He is a Missouri native and a 2008 graduate of the University of Missouri. Read more ›