Drug possession attorney in Austin - Gyounglaw

Austin No Longer Enforcing Low-Level Marijuana Possessions

Drug possession attorney in Austin – A unanimous vote recently taken by Austin City Council mandates that low-level misdemeanor marijuana possessions will no longer be enforced by the city itself.

This means that the city of Austin will now officially end all criminal action against those who are found to be in possession of small amounts of the substance while, at the same time, banning police officers from looking into newer testing methods in order to determine whether a substance is marijuana or legal hemp.

However, police will still be able to issue citations, as well as detain individuals, for possession marijuana under Texas state law. Despite this, police will no longer be able to issue fines or court dates for those who are suspected of low-level marijuana possession.

While the Austin Police Department will still continue to enforce felony marijuana trafficking offenses, action from the Legislature would be required in order for the substance to be completely decriminalized.

In terms of the vote that was recently taken, a recently-passed state law is what ultimately led to it. Back in 2019, House Bill 1325 was passed by the Legislature, which led to hemp being legalized in the state of Texas.

This means that cannabis is legal as long as there is no more than 0.3% of THC present in the substance. Once the law was officially in effect, many county prosecutors officially announced that they would no longer accept any misdemeanor marijuana cases due to limited access to testing equipment that would be needed to help distinguish between marijuana and hemp.

One Austin City Council member was quoted as stating the following: “The state created an unfunded mandate by legalizing hemp because it means that in order to enforce marijuana laws, local governments have to purchase expensive test equipment that isn’t widely available. The state also imposed a revenue cap, which means that every spending decision that we have as a council looking forward we have to think of very carefully to determine whether it’s worth limited resources.”

A majority of those who spoke at the Austin City Council meeting prior to the unanimous vote that took place stated that ending enforcement of low-level marijuana possession was more of a racial issue, as data from the Austin Police Department cites approximately 432 marijuana citations having been issued in 2019. Out of that total, 201 were issued to those who are Hispanic, while 163 were issued to those who are African American, thereby making up approximately 84% of all citations.

While one student called the action taken by Austin City Council a “groundbreaking change,” he also had concern that Texas Governor Greg Abbott may end up taking note of the action and stage some form of retaliation as a result. The student was quoted as stating the following: “Don’t just stop and when the governor, when he comes to your door and he knocks because he’s going to, and that’s OK. Don’t not turn back around. He’s going to try and intimidate you.”

Thank you for visiting The Law Office of Gabriella Young, a drug possession attorney in Austin. If you need an attorney contact our office for a free consultation.