WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to allow Oklahoma and Nebraska to sue Colorado over its marijuana production and distribution laws.

Oklahoma and Nebraska likened Colorado — which legalized marijuana in 2012 along with a regulated process for cultivation and distribution — to a drug cartel that is causing drug-related problems in their states and others.

States must get approval from the U.S. Supreme Court to bring legal actions against each other. Four justices must agree to accept a case.

Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, disagreed with the decision not to hear the states' complaint against Colorado. The court could use the case, he wrote in a brief dissent, to sort out why it should even be able to decide whether states can sue each other.