Montgomery County DA Won't Back Off Marijuana Cases

CONROE, TX — Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon won't be among the Texas prosecutors who have seemingly put on the brakes to prosecuting marijuana cases with the passage of a new law allowing for farmers to grow hemp. In fact, it will be business as usual when it comes to misdemeanor and felony marijuana cases.

The uproar among prosecutors began with the passage last legislative session of House Bill 1325, which legalizes the growing of hemp, which has lower THC levels than marijuana. Gov. Greg Abbot signed the bill into law on June 10.

On Tuesday, Harris County DA Kim Ogg announced that some misdemeanor marijuana cases would not be prosecuted unless the THC levels were .3 percent or greater, and would require a lab test to support prosecution.

"Felony Marijuana charges will be evaluated on a case by case basis by our Office. In the proper instances, such charges may be taken while lab test results are pending," Ogg said in her statement.

RELATED: New Hemp Law Means DA Won't Prosecute Some Marijuana Cases

Ligon called the reactions to the new law "premature" adding that Texas is still in the early stages of this change.

"While that legislation will eventually permit state officials to issue licenses for hemp cultivation and the production of certain hemp products, it is important to note that those agencies must first promulgate rules and regulations to govern the licensing process and the regulation of the hemp industry," Ligon said. "At this point, no licenses have been issued and no legal hemp is being grown in this state."

Even when licenses are granted to farmers, the law won't allow a provision for hemp to be smoked or vaped, he said.

Ligon added that while there could be a backlog created due to the inability of some laboratories to adequately test for correct THC levels, it does not give prosecutors a pass from upholding the law.

"This office will not use the anticipated problems in implementing the new legislation as a pretext to achieve the policy goal of ending prosecution of marijuana cases, particularly after the recent failure of all legislative efforts to decriminalize or reduce the penalties for possession of marijuana," he said.

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