The man had told a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper that his truck contained hemp, not weed. He was released from detention after a federal crime lab tested the cargo.
Marijuana in Texas
Marijuana policy in Texas is getting complicated. Recreational weed isn’t legal in Texas in 2020, but pot prosecutions are dropping. Meanwhile, CBD products are expanding after the Texas legislature legalized hemp. Here’s everything you need to know about marijuana prosecutions, CBD, hemp, medical marijuana and more.
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Marijuana in Texas
Marijuana prosecutions in Texas have dropped by more than half since lawmakers legalized hemp
After Texas legalized hemp and threw marijuana prosecution into chaos last year, prosecutors filed far fewer criminal charges, police departments paid for private testing and public crime labs were struggling to catch up.
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Marijuana in Texas
Texas DPS officers told not to arrest in low-level marijuana cases after new hemp law
A memo obtained by The Texas Tribune instructs DPS officers to cite and release suspects in misdemeanor marijuana cases “as appropriate.” Officials said the goal is to continue enforcement even though some prosecutors aren’t taking new pot cases.
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Marijuana in Texas
Texas was warned its hemp law would complicate marijuana prosecutions. Lawmakers didn’t listen.
Crime labs repeatedly told lawmakers and budget officials that they couldn’t distinguish between hemp and marijuana without new testing resources. The issue got almost no attention.
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Marijuana in Texas
How can Texas fix its marijuana problem after legalizing hemp? Forensic experts have a plan.
Prosecutors and crime lab scientists were scrambling to find a solution after a change in the state’s definition of marijuana imperiled criminal cases.
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Marijuana in Texas
Texas leaders: Hemp law did not decriminalize marijuana
A law legalizing hemp changed the definition of marijuana, causing district attorneys across the state to drop low-level possession cases and stop accepting new ones.
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Marijuana in Texas
Hemp law has most big-city prosecutors in Texas stepping back from marijuana charges. But not in El Paso.
Many prosecutors say the way Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers redefined marijuana requires new lab testing to prove it’s different from recently legalized hemp. The situation has created a patchwork of consequences for people caught with pot.
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Texas Legislature 2019
This year, Texas passed a law legalizing hemp. It also has prosecutors dropping hundreds of marijuana cases.
The new law changed the definition of marijuana, and prosecutors and crime labs say they don’t have the resources to test if a substance is legal hemp or marijuana.
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Guides
The Texas Republican Party platform supports some marijuana expansions. So why doesn’t Dan Patrick?
Earlier this month, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said a bill that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana was “dead on arrival” in the Senate. But his party’s platform supports marijuana decriminalization. So what gives?
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas expansion of medical cannabis nears finish line after Senate approval
If the House approves changes made by the upper chamber, the bill will head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.