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States sue Colorado over legalized recreational marijuana: reports

Posted On: Dec. 18, 2014 12:00 AM CST

While states consider the potential impacts of marijuana legalization on workers compensation claims, Nebraska and Oklahoma reportedly are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh whether Colorado's legal pot law should stand.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, claims Colorado "caused and will continue to cause substantial and irreparable harm" to its neighboring states when it legalized recreational marijuana use earlier this year, according to a copy of the complaint posted online by the Denver Post.

The effects allegedly include increased trafficking of marijuana into Nebraska and Oklahoma, where pot remains illegal, and increased "increased costs for the apprehension, incarceration, and prosecution" of people caught with illegal marijuana in those states, the complaint reads.

In a statement to USA Today, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said the lawsuit is "without merit and we will vigorously defend against it in the U.S. Supreme Court."