Colorado, Washington square off with Okla., Neb. over pot law

The top law enforcement officials in Colorado and Washington are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a lawsuit from states that seek to strike down Colorado laws that legalize recreational marijuana use.

Oklahoma and Nebraska filed their suit directly with the Supreme Court, arguing that Colorado’s move to legalize marijuana conflicts with federal drug regulations.

The Oklahoma and Nebraska attorneys general contend that easy access to marijuana has led to a surge in trafficking, with residents crossing into Colorado to purchase pot legally and sell it — illicitly — at home in Nebraska or Oklahoma.

In a 49-page brief filed Friday, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman urged the nation’s highest court to throw out the suit.

“My office remains committed to defending Colorado’s law,” Coffman said in a statement.

In 2012 voters in Colorado and Washington approved measures to legalize pot use.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday asking the Supreme Court to dump Nebraska and Oklahoma’s lawsuit, suggesting that it could also threaten laws in his state.

“I am disappointed that Nebraska and Oklahoma took this step to interfere with Colorado’s popularly enacted initiative to legalize marijuana,” he said in a statement. “I filed this brief to protect Washington’s interests and the will of Washington’s voters from interference by other states.”