HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Harris and Fort Bend counties on Tuesday announced a sweeping alternative to misdemeanor marijuana cases. To comply with a new Texas law, district attorneys in Harris and Fort Bend each stated they would no longer accept any misdemeanor marijuana ownership cases without laboratory checks displaying an illegal THC level, the chemical that produces a high. So far, Harris County has disregarded 26 misdemeanor marijuana cases since the law went into effect, refused at least an extra, and is reviewing loads greater pending instances for possible dismissal.
David Mitcham, the first assistant within the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, told 13 Investigates, “As a matter of essential equity, it’s no longer right to be prosecuting the cases that are pending without a lab take a look at. It is in which the legislature, in its knowledge, and the Governor and his expertise, have signed into regulation this additional element of proof.”
In Fort Bend County, the District Attorney is reviewing cases nicely and refusing new ones until THC concentration exams are executed. Fort Bend DA Brian Middleton made an announcement Tuesday afternoon, “We are actively gaining knowledge of an answer, and once we find one that is reliable and less costly, it is going to be business as usual.” Middleton adds that during Fort Bend, dismissed instances may be re-filed once the techniques are tried out.
House Bill 1325, allowing farmers to grow hemp as a crop, was signed into law by way of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott remaining month and became effective on June 10. The new definition of hemp changes the definition of marijuana, creating a THC restriction to distinguish between prison hemp and unlawful marijuana. A THC concentration in cannabis of less than 0.3 percent is hemp. If the THC concentration is more than 0.3 percent, it is marijuana, and illegal to own.
