Two federal lawsuits filed Thursday in Colorado aim to “end the sale of recreational marijuana in this state,” according to attorney David Thompson, who represents the plaintiffs in both cases.

Gov. John Hickenlooper is among the defendants named in the lawsuits, which also target state and local officials and two Colorado marijuana businesses. Both suits claim that the businesses are causing nuisances in violation of federal anti-racketeering laws.

One of the suits takes that a step farther, arguing that Colorado’s licensing of all recreational marijuana businesses should be halted because it conflicts with federal law — a claim similar to that made by Nebraska and Oklahoma in their ongoing lawsuit against Colorado over legalization.

“Federal law criminalizes a recreational marijuana business,” Thompson said Thursday at a news conference announcing the suits, “and state and local officials cannot implement a licensing regime designed to facilitate federal felonies.”

Both suits were filed on behalf of Colorado residents by the Safe Streets Alliance, a Washington, D.C.-based group opposed to the legalization of marijuana.

In one suit, the plaintiffs — Hope and Michael Reilly — claim that the construction of a large marijuana cultivation facility next to land they own in Rye interferes with their views and their property’s scenic value.

“We bought our land in part for those spectacular views, but now they are marred by the sight of an illegal drug conspiracy at our doorstep,” Hope Reilly said at Thursday’s news conference.

The grow facility is being built by Rocky Mountain Organics. Multiple voice mails left at the store’s Black Hawk location for owners Joseph and Jason Licata, named as defendants in the suit, went unreturned Thursday. Other defendants named in this lawsuit are Hickenlooper, Department of Revenue executive director Barbara Brohl, Marijuana Enforcement Division director Lewis Koski and the Pueblo County Commission.

In the other lawsuit, Holiday Inn in Frisco claims its business is already suffering because of a recreational marijuana shop it says is planning to open 75 yards from the hotel’s front door.

“Many of its guests are youth ski teams and families with children,” the lawsuit says. “Many parents and coaches will avoid booking with a hotel that is within a short walking distance and direct sight of a recreational marijuana store and grow facility.”

At the news conference, Thompson said he couldn’t quantify how much business the hotel has lost but called the damages ongoing. The hotel’s owners protested Summit Marijuana’s proposed move to the Frisco Town Council in January. Frisco’s mayor rejected the hotel’s complaint.

Marijuana legalization supporters slammed both suits Thursday. Advocate Mason Tvert said the lawsuits would not overturn Colorado’s laws legalizing marijuana use, home cultivation and limited possession, even if they succeeded in shutting down the state’s regulatory system for stores.

“Ultimately,” Tvert said, “the goal of the lawsuit is to ensure that Colorado is not controlling marijuana.”

Sam Kamin, a University of Denver law professor who teaches a course on marijuana law, also expressed skepticism about the suits. Neither of the businesses targeted in the suits is even operating in its contested location yet, Kamin said. And, he said, the Reillys’ complaint about obscured views has nothing to do with the marijuana grow’s illegal activity.

For a federal racketeering lawsuit filed by an individual to succeed, “you have to show that your business or property interest were harmed by a corrupt organization,” Kamin said. “Displeasure is not good enough.”

A spokeswoman for the Colorado attorney general’s office said the state has not been formally served with the suits. When it is, she said, the attorney general’s office will defend Colorado’s marijuana laws.

Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394, rbaca@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bruvs