Changing Marijuana Laws Nationwide Leave Yellowstone Tourists Confused

As states across the country liberalize their marijuana laws, visitors to national parks like Yellowstone can find themselves dazed and confused by all of the legal changes. Yellowstone National Park Spokesman Al Nash said this confusion has led to an uptick in criminal possession of marijuana charges.

"We have seen some increase in the number of people who have come into the park with some small amounts of marijuana," Nash said. "Either with say, a medicinal.prescription, or from a state like Colorado who has made even larger changes to their state laws."

Even though the state laws may change, the federal laws still treat marijuana as an illegal substance.

"Yellowstone has what is known as exclusive federal jurisdiction," Nash said. "You have to remember that Yellowstone was created before the states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho whose boundaries overlap. So we're bound by federal law, not state law, when it comes to criminal acts."

Although Nash did not have exact numbers on the number of misdemeanor possession of marijuana cases in the park, the Associated Press is reporting evidence that there has been nearly a four-fold increase since 2010.