Posted on 12/18/2014 2:20:21 PM PST by balch3
OKLAHOMA CITY – After legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, Colorado is at the heart of a lawsuit.
The Denver Post is reporting that Nebraska and Oklahoma have filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to strike down Colorado’s legalization laws.
The Colorado attorney general’s office says the lawsuit alleges “that Colorado’s Amendment 64 and its implementing legislation regarding marijuana is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
“Because neighboring states have expressed concern about Colorado-grown marijuana coming into their states, we are not entirely surprised by this action,” said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. “However, it appears the plaintiff’s primary grievance stems from non-enforcement of federal laws regarding marijuana, as opposed to choices made by the voters of Colorado. We believe this suit is without merit and we will vigorously defend against it in the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Click here to read a copy of the lawsuit.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt issued the following statement about the lawsuit:
“Fundamentally, Oklahoma and states surrounding Colorado are being impacted by Colorado’s decision to legalize and promote the commercialization of marijuana which has injured Oklahoma’s ability to enforce our state’s policies against marijuana. Federal law classifies marijuana as an illegal drug. The health and safety risks posed by marijuana, especially to children and teens, are well documented. The illegal products being distributed in Colorado are being trafficked across state lines thereby injuring neighboring states like Oklahoma and Nebraska. As the state’s chief legal officer, the attorney general’s office is taking this step to protect the health and safety of Oklahomans.”
You are telling us that you ACTUALLY WANT checkpoints at state borders?
Please God, save us from ourselves.
Places in Alaska that have banned booze have this problem with their people too. Same thing in New York with smokes because their taxes are so high.
You would be crossing a state line. There is a way around this, however, involving M-94 going east out of Crystal Falls.
As someone who’s “been there, done that; I vehemently disagree with your statement.
This brings up an interesting question. Federal drug laws are unconstitutional - there is no place where the FedGov is given the power to regulate or ban narcotics, plants, etc. etc.
This being the case, can the supremacy clause rightly apply, if it is being applied to declare federal supremacy over state laws, when the FedGov has no power to make such a law, and it rightly falls to the states anywise per the 10th amendment?
Hate to say it, but if by "conservative" we mean the sense of "preserving the individual liberties that we have traditionally had under our Constitution," then stumping for federal drug laws is decidedly not conservative.
It's too bad that we have a whole troop full of statist FReepers who are more concerned about their personal dislike for drugs and using the power of the state to enforce it than they are Art. II, Sect. 8 and the 4th, 9th, and 10th amendments.
So do you support states regulating intrastate marijuana policies per the 10th Amendment, rather than fedgov?
fwdude - this is not directed specifically at you - you just happened to be the last person I posted to, so your handle was convenient.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but anyone in Oklahoma that wants to smoke pot is able to buy it with fairly low risk. This pot already comes in from Mexico, through Texas, and to pretty much everywhere. It comes from California to pretty much everywhere. It comes from Georgia.
It has been going on for more years than I care to count. In order to NOT ACTUALLY STOP it, we give police enormous power to detain anyone, and with virtually no actual reason. How much more liberty do you want to give up to NOT stop people who wish to make bad choices?
It’s like saying “I don’t like that people do [fill in the blank] so state troopers should be able to snap on some latex gloves and probe their body cavities to stop them.”
Except there is no “their body cavities” to authorize, it is your own, your grandmother’s, your daughter’s, your son’s.
What ever happened to “He governs best who governs least.”?
What ever happened to “He who would trade his freedom for a little more security deserves neither.”?
The CFR now has a staggering 174,545 pages of laws. Add 50 states worth, and you have more pages than you can reasonable read in a lifetime. We are reaching, or have reached the point, where it is literally impossible for any person not to break some law. The law of the land now makes every single person a criminal, usually multiple times per day.
Are we so personally weak and petulant that we have to forcefully impose our will on people we don’t know to keep them from doing something we don’t like?
So here is a jolly idea: Let’s set up checkpoints on every freaking highway that crosses a state border! Yeah! That will improve our quality of life SO much!
</Rant>
I am harder pressed to find any authority to pass such ‘laws’ by the Fed. gov’t per the Constitution.
When does the ‘reciprocity’ (aka re-affirmation of Rights) of the 5 States w/ Constitutional carry kick-in Oklahoma/Nebraska?
I think you should clarify that statement.
Someone landing on that post might be led to believe you making unsubstantiated allegations about me.
I never said or even implied anything regarding interstate commerce. I just said states need to govern themselves, and that includes the people who choose to enter from the outside.
I’m sick of the homogenized one-state nation that the fed has imposed.
If ever there was a ‘racist law’, this would be a prime example: them damn black jazz musicians asking “Where are the white women at?”
At, but it’s fun, almost to the point of crying, wasting ‘supposed’ (C) support Socialism and unconstitutional ‘laws’
A quick, simple question: do you favor ANY laws?
If so, what is the nature of laws you do favor?
Colorado voters will repeal the marijuana law.
By a significant margin.
CSP is a decent outfit. Denver PD not so much.
anti-gun states argue the same thing:I wonder if people would like having their cars searched at the state boundary for hi-cap magazines?
does a state with low taxes on tobacco similarly encourage smoking in neighboring states? where does it end? should “dry” counties petition to make counties that sell liquor stop?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.