https://gyounglaw.com/drug-possession-attorney-in-austin/ Austin No Longer Enforcing Low-Level Marijuana Possessions

1. 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.

2. 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.