Colorado pot growers hit under RICO

Overlawyered -the Tenth Circuit has ruled that Safe Streets Alliance, representing a couple named Reilly, can proceed with a racketeering suit against the Reilly’s [Colorado] marijuana-growing neighbors. The direct damages claimed, including noxious odors, are of the sort that might form the basis of a conventional nuisance action, but the RICO framing could make possible steeper penalties, such as triple damages and attorneys’ fees, while the continued unlawfulness of the growing under federal law (even if left unenforced) knocks out possible defenses for the growers