The Record’s online poll from July 12-19 asked readers whether they think Hays County should continue to accept low-level marijuana cases in the wake of House Bill 1325.
As district attorneys around the state dismiss low-level marijuana-related prosecutions in the wake of House Bill 1325, Hays County Criminal District Attorney Wes Mau has stated that Hays County will continue to accept marijuana cases.
House Bill 1325 followed the 2018 Farm Bill, a provision that legalized hemp at the federal level. The bill, which was signed into law on June 10, promotes the expansion of the hemp industry in Texas and makes hemp a viable agricultural commodity. But an unintended side effect of House Bill 1325 is that it has made it difficult for law enforcement to tell if a substance is marijuana or hemp, because, among other provisions, the law changed the definition of marijuana based on its percent of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.
