From Patients for Medical Cannabis:
Earlier this month, the Attorneys General of Nebraska and Oklahoma filed a lawsuit on behalf of their respective states, naming the state of Colorado as the defendant. Nebraska and Oklahoma allege that Colorado’s legalization of marijuana undermines their ability to maintain their own prohibitions of marijuana because Colorado takes inadequate measures to prevent legal intrastate marijuana from crossing state borders, where it enters the illegal market. Taking advantage of a provision of the Constitution covering cases “in which a State shall be Party,” Nebraska and Oklahoma filed their complaint in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Nebraska and Oklahoma v. Colorado raises a number of important procedural and substantive questions, including these: Does Colorado’s marijuana legalization violate federal law or does it merely fail to enforce federal law? And given the essential role that the federal marijuana prohibition plays in the plaintiff states’ case, should the lawsuit be dismissed on the ground that their real complaint lies with the federal government, not Colorado?