fb-pixel Skip to main content

US still cites marijuana users in parks

TACOMA — Karen Strand didn’t think she'd get in trouble for having a small container of medical marijuana when she went hiking in Olympic National Park this summer.

President Obama, she remembered, had said the federal government had ‘‘bigger fish to fry’’ than people who follow state marijuana laws, and Washington state had just legalized marijuana.

But a ranger pulled her over and Strand wound up as one of at least 27,700 people cited for having marijuana on federal land since 2009, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal court data. The number of citations is small compared to the hundreds of millions of visitors to national parks, forests, and monuments each year.

Advertisement



But it nevertheless illustrates one of the many issues Washington, Colorado, and other states face in complying with last month’s Justice Department memo that requires them to address eight federal law enforcement priorities if they want to regulate marijuana. Among those priorities is keeping marijuana use and possession off federal property.

State officials have no plans to license marijuana gardens or stores on federal land, but beyond that, they say, it isn’t clear what they can do to discourage backpackers or campers from bringing a few joints into Rocky Mountain or Mount Rainier National Park.

Thousands receive tickets annually charging them with having marijuana on US property, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine. The charges typically don’t result in jail time but often do require at least one court appearance. They are frequently negotiated down to an infraction, akin to a traffic ticket, and a fine of up to a few hundred dollars.

Associated Press