They didn't see this coming. This year, Texas passed a law legalizing hemp. It also has prosecutors dropping hundreds of marijuana cases. Simply put, if a defendant claims it's legal hemp, prosecutors don't currently have the means to disprove that claim.
More here: After New Hemp Law, Texas Prosecutors Differ On When To Charge Those Arrested For Marijuana.
Because of a new state law, prosecutors across Texas have dropped hundreds of low-level marijuana charges and have indicated they won’t pursue new ones without further testing. ...
“The distinction between marijuana and hemp requires proof of the THC concentration of a specific product or contraband, and for now, that evidence can come only from a laboratory capable of determining that type of potency — a category which apparently excludes most, if not all, of the crime labs in Texas right now,” stated an advisory released by the Texas District and County Attorneys Association last month.
But wait a sec. Governor Abbott says prosecute anyway if the possessor doesn't have a hemp shipping certificate. See Abbott Orders Texas Prosecutors to Enforce Marijuana Laws. Excerpt:
“If a person is transporting hemp but has no certificate, you may now prosecute that person for the offense of failing to have a hemp certificate,” the memo reads … before going on to state that such certification does not yet exist: “If they have a certificate, which the Department has yet to promulgate, then it’s a fake – which is a felony.”
Alrighty then.
------
2:48 PM 9/11/2019
Comments