DENVER – Two states that approved recreational use of marijuana could learn Friday whether the federal government intends to file a lawsuit to block the measures from taking effect.

Governors in Colorado and Washington said they planned to talk by phone with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about the measures that contradict federal law banning the use of pot.

Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., already allow marijuana use by people with certain medical conditions. Still, federal drug law outlaws use of the drug in all circumstances.