GRIMES CO. TO CONTINUE PROSECUTING MARIJUANA CASES DESPITE PASSAGE OF HB 1325

  

Despite the recent passage of a bill making it legal to possess some amounts of marijuana, the Grimes County District Attorney’s Office will continue to prosecute marijuana cases.

House Bill 1325, which became effective June 10^th, legalized hemp with a THC concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.  This will now require prosecutors to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the marijuana in question has a THC level greater than 0.3 percent to differentiate it from legal hemp.  Visual identification will no longer be enough.

The District Attorney’s Office said in a release Monday this brings problems for Department of Public Safety Crime Labs, as they do not have the necessary equipment or protocols for measureable testing of THC.  The office said, despite the passage of the bill, legislators did not provide funding for state investigators or counties to perform the newly required testing.

This situation could delay the process of moving marijuana cases through the court system, and increase costs.  As such, some state prosecutors have decided to either limit or refuse marijuana cases for prosecution.

However, Grimes County District Attorney Andria Bender said she will be in contact with local and state lawmakers in order to obtain the necessary funding for crime labs to test THC levels.

Bender maintains, as long as she is District Attorney, there will be “no de facto legalization of marijuana in Grimes County, as long as marijuana remains illegal in the state of Texas”.