KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Marijuana is a political debate, not a legal one — for now.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it won’t consider lawsuits challenging Colorado’s pot law. But lawyers say that Nebraska and Oklahoma officials could pursue other legal challenges down the road.
For now, the many states considering pot laws this year won’t have guidance from the nation’s high court about whether they’re free to flout federal drug law by regulating the drug.
Instead, the 26 states and Washington, D.C., that allow marijuana for medical or recreational purposes won’t know until the nation has a new president and attorney general whether state-level pot regulations will be allowed to stand.
Lawyers for Nebraska and Oklahoma haven’t said yet whether they plan to try again challenging Colorado’s pot law.
Nebraska’s attorney general says he is disappointed but unsurprised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of Nebraska and Oklahoma’s effort to have Colorado’s pot legalization declared unconstitutional.