State lawmakers approved a bill Monday that would allow counties to levy and collect sales tax on recreational marijuana, a move inspired by a standoff between Adams County and three of its cities that could wind up in the state Supreme Court.

The measure, if signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper, would allow counties to impose a pot tax in unincorporated areas without challenge but would have to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with cities and towns to tax weed there.

Adams County caught the wrath of Commerce City, Northglenn and Aurora in 2015 when the three cities challenged the county’s decision to impose a 3 percent tariff on recreational pot sold throughout the county, regardless of whether municipalities had already instituted their own marijuana sales tax.

The cities argued in their lawsuit that by layering an additional tax on a transaction, Adams County was putting their marijuana businesses at a competitive disadvantage to shops in nearby counties that didn’t have to charge an additional levy. [Read more at the Denver Post]