{"id":5240,"date":"2015-12-22T03:51:10","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T03:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=4047"},"modified":"2015-12-22T03:51:10","modified_gmt":"2015-12-22T03:51:10","slug":"obama-administration-wants-supreme-court-to-reject-marijuana-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/obama-administration-wants-supreme-court-to-reject-marijuana-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama Administration Wants Supreme Court To Reject Marijuana Suit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/obama-administration-wants-supreme-court-to-reject-marijuana-suit\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Despite its opposition to making marijuana use legal, the Obama administration is urging the Supreme Court to reject a lawsuit from Nebraska and Oklahoma that seeks to declare Colorado\u2019s pot legalization unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department\u2019s top courtroom lawyer said in a brief filed Wednesday that the interstate dispute over a measure approved by Colorado voters in 2012 does not belong at the high court.<\/p>\n<p>Nebraska and Oklahoma filed their lawsuit directly with the Supreme Court in December 2014, arguing that Colorado\u2019s law allowing recreational marijuana use by adults runs afoul of federal antidrug laws. States can sue each other in the Supreme Court, a rare instance in which the justices are not hearing appeals of lower court rulings.<\/p>\n<p>The two states complained that Colorado\u2019s action has hindered efforts to enforce antimarijuana laws in their states. They say combatting marijuana that\u2019s coming across the border is a drain on their resources.<\/p>\n<p>But Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said Nebraska and Oklahoma are not alleging that Colorado \u201chas directed or authorized\u201d anyone to transport marijuana across state lines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt most, they have alleged that third-party lawbreakers are inflicting those injuries, and that Colorado\u2019s legal regime makes it easier for them to do so,\u201d Verrilli wrote. Taking up the dispute \u201cwould represent a substantial and unwarranted expansion of this court\u2019s original jurisdiction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Verrilli\u2019s brief also notes that Colorado only allows people to possess 1 ounce or less of marijuana. Such small quantities carried across the border don\u2019t cause the states \u201cto suffer great loss or any serious injury in terms of law-enforcement funding or other expenditures,\u201d Verrilli wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The Obama administration \u201csteadfastly opposes legalization of marijuana,\u201d The White House says on its website. But the administration also has said that it would not stand in the way of states that want to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana as long as there are effective controls to keep marijuana away from kids, the black market and federal property.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department says it simply doesn\u2019t have the resources to police all violations of federal marijuana law, and so it will focus on those priorities.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/obama-administration-wants-supreme-court-to-reject-marijuana-suit.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Jacob Redmond <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/nation\/article\/Obama-administration-wants-Supreme-Count-to-6703616.php\" target=\"_blank\">Obama Administration Wants Supreme Count To Reject Marijuana Suit<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: The Associated Press<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/chronicle-contacts\/\" target=\"_blank\">Contact Page<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None Found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">SF Gate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite its opposition to making marijuana use legal, the Obama administration is urging the Supreme Court to reject a lawsuit&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2015\/12\/obama-administration-wants-supreme-court-to-reject-marijuana-suit\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1597,9,1,3],"tags":[4165],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}