CBD mania has certainly taken over Texas. From Houston to El Paso, CBD stores are popping up around every corner with the hottest creams and tinctures. There is no shortage of independent CBD suppliers either, each one ready to educate anyone listening on the endogenous cannabinoid system. For years it has been amazing to see the Texas industry growth of a cannabinoid that has tip toed through legal limbo.
Many CBD businesses have continued into 2019 celebrating the passage of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill. This clearly defined industrial hemp as containing no more than 0.3% THC, thus moving it out of Schedule 1 status of the Controlled Substances Schedule. But it came with pretty acute restrictions and did not completely legalize CBD.
As of today, CBD remains a Schedule 1 substance. The lone exception is the FDA approved drug Epidiolex. Go check with the DEA and any good cannabis industry lawyer. They will tell you the same.
Now, over the last few years in Texas, there hasn’t been a large crackdown on CBD suppliers or users. There have been reports of store raids and some arrests, but no mass incarceration throughout the emerging Texas CBD industry. This has likely been due to the confusing legal language as to what is or isn’t considered marijuana. It hasn’t seemed to be a high priority for law enforcement either, as attitudes on marijuana generally have begun to slightly relax in the big cities.
So the question remained, in 2019 can citizens get arrested for CBD products in Texas?
Two days ago, a warning was floating through social media about arrests and prosecution for CBD oil possession in Tarrant County.
Jon Perry is a veteran and advocate with DFW NORML. He dug a little deeper into the claims and messaged the DA of Tarrant County directly.
He pressed a little further.
Jon talked about his reaction to the responses from Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson.
“I am absolutely astonished by her reply. In an age of high prison populations, we would really charge a person for non-THC CBD?”
He continued on why CBD access is important to him. “Personally, as a disabled veteran with a chronic back condition, CBD has really helped me. Before that, I’d eat hydrocodone like they were Chiclets.”
Brook Bailey is a fellow cannabis reform advocate and intimately involved with local politics through the Tarrant County Libertarian Party.
“The Tarrant County DA’s rouge decision to prosecute CBD products as felonies is not consistent with federal or Texas laws,” she said. “Her actions demonstrate the continued need for public education on the difference between marijuana and hemp, as well as how hemp-derived CBD helps patients with a variety of conditions. I hope this galvanizes Tarrant County voters to contact both the DA office and their state representatives to stress that patients are not criminals and deserve dignity, respect and good old-fashioned American freedom.”
So, despite Cite & Release laws popping up for regular gets-you-high marijuana possession in big Texas counties, the state’s third largest county is busting people and handing out felonies for something that doesn’t get you high.
Rest assured, if this is happening in Tarrant, other places like Wise, Wichita, Smith and San Jacinto Counties are sure to follow suit.
Coincidentally enough, this kind of enforcement is similar to language spoken by State Representative Stephanie Klick. She represents District 91, which is in the heart of Tarrant County. Klick is reported as saying she would like to see something done about unregulated CBD.
Scary thought. That would mean regulating all CBD products through the Texas Compassionate Use Program. And an abrupt end to the millions of dollars being independently made by entrepreneurs throughout Texas.
Let this be a message to the Texas CBD Industry:
Be honest with patients about the legality of CBD products in Texas. And if you want to keep doing what you are doing, you better show up in Austin during the 2019 Legislative Session. Otherwise, Texas may legislate, regulate and enforce you out of business.
I sell to policemen, to the DEA and to judges. This is all BS. Farm Bill 2018 protects anyone to grow and used CBD products.