Video: Gwinnett Policeman Gives Pot Back To Driver

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A wrinkle in a new Georgia law is prompting police officers in Gwinnett County to return small amounts of marijuana taken from potential violators, as shown in a video that's gone viral, according to media reports. In the video, an officer hands back a small bag of pot to a driver during a recent traffic stop, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

It's part of a policy change announced in August by the Gwinnett Police Department, which said that officers will no longer write tickets or arrest anyone caught with an ounce or less of marijuana, the AJC reported.

In the video, the officer explains to the driver that he cannot be prosecuted for carrying a small amount of marijuana.

To see the video, please click here.

Gwinnett authorities say that a new state law, which allows licensed farmers to grow hemp, requires the police to test even small amounts of pot to determine whether it contains high levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Hemp contains low levels of THC. But prosecutors say that no testing device is available to legally identify a small stash of weed, the AJC reported in August.

The Gwinnett Police Department will start issuing tickets and arresting pot users again when a court-accepted THC concentration test is available, which may be soon, a police spokesman warned. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is developing new testing methods and protocols.