Texas crime labs recently partnered with Sam Houston University to develop a lab test to analyze the THC content of plant material or oil. The test is an important step forward following the legalization of hemp in Texas. The test enables authorities to determine whether a sample of oil or plant material is legal hemp, with a THC content of 0.3%, or illegal marijuana, with a THC content above 0.3%. However, the test has come too late for some defendants. Some individuals have already been penalized wrongfully for hemp use, sale, or possession after being arrested on suspicion of possessing, using, or selling marijuana. While the TCH test is helpful, it is not instantaneous, like the breathalyzer tests often used to screen drivers suspected of driving drunk. Defendants in hemp and marijuana cases face the possibility of detention while their substance sample is analyzed.
One man has already paid a steep price for possessing and transporting hemp. On December 6, as Aneudy Gonzalez was driving a rental truck full of hemp from California to New York, he was pulled over outside of Amarillo, Texas. The officer who made the traffic stop arrested Gonzalez and sent him to prison on federal drug charges. During the traffic stop, Gonzalez told the officer that he was a contract driver transporting hemp from California to New York. He also showed the officer a lab report that indicated that the THC content of his cargo was within the legal limit. The officer who arrested Gonzalez claims that he relied on his training and experience in determining that he believed the plant material in the truck was marijuana.
Gonzalez spent a month in jail, facing federal drug trafficking charges that could have kept him behind prison bars and away from his family for the rest of his life. During the month he was incarcerated, Aneudy Gonzalez missed out on celebrating Christmas with family, including his children. Fortunately, Gonzalez was released from jail earlier this month, after test results from the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) crime lab in Dallas confirmed that the 3,350 pounds of plant material he was hauling in the rental truck is legal hemp. Federal prosecutors have requested that the charges against Gonzalez be dismissed. The truck and its cargo of hemp are to be returned. Attorneys for Gonzalez plan to pursue a civil lawsuit in connection with his arrest and incarceration.
The state of Texas has legalized hemp. The state also claims that it does not want to interfere with the interstate commerce of hemp. Unfortunately, the officers who are responsible for enforcing criminal penalties for marijuana sale, use, and possession sometimes mistakenly arrest and charge individuals who are in possession of hemp. A Texas Criminal Defense Attorney can help you set the record straight in your hemp case. To learn more about how a Texas criminal defense attorney can help you, call Attorney Alex Tyra today. Call us today, at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a convenient online contact form on our website.