Colorado Attorney General says ‘suit is without merit and [his office] will vigorously defend against it’
[Press Release] DENVER – Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning announced Thursday that he has filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of overturning Colorado’s laws that regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol. He said Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is also joining the lawsuit, which alleges the state constitutional amendment approved by Colorado voters and the implementing legislation approved by state lawmakers is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Statement from Mason Tvert, the Denver-based communications director of the Marijuana Policy Project who co-directed the 2012 Colorado marijuana initiative campaign:
“We agree with the Colorado Attorney General’s opinion that this suit is without merit. This is a classic case of a solution in search of a problem. They are wasting Nebraska and Oklahoma taxpayers’ dollars by filing this suit, and they’re forcing Coloradans to pick up the bill for defending ourselves against it. Colorado's top law enforcement officials have better things to do, and you’d think their counterparts in Nebraska and Oklahoma would as well.
“These guys are on the wrong side of history. They will be remembered similarly to how we think of state officials who fought to maintain alcohol prohibition years after other states ended it.
“Attorney General Bruning is demonizing the adult use of marijuana, but clearly has no problem with adults using a far more harmful substance like alcohol. He has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from the alcohol industry, and it appears he is fighting to protect their turf. He should explain why he thinks Colorado adults should not be able to use marijuana instead, if that’s what they prefer. He might be happy living in an alcohol-only state, but here in Colorado we believe adults should be able to make the safer choice.”
[Details regarding Attorney General Bruning’s relationship with the alcohol industry are available at http://mppne.ws/13hdfli and http://mppne.ws/1AwUoxM.]
The Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest marijuana policy organization, has been responsible for changing most state-level marijuana laws since 2000. For more information, visit http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.