I, in my capacity of Executive Director for El Paso NORML and as a contributor to Texas Cannabis Collective, have been reaching out to the office of District Attorney Jaime Esparza for two weeks to see where he stood in regard to the new hemp law that was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, and the confusion it has created within the state regarding the differentiating of ‘marijuana’ and hemp. I have yet to receive any kind of reply from his office.
Before I continue, I want to fill you in on the history I have with DA Esparza. In 2015, I asked to meet with Esparza regarding medical patients and simple possession charges, in which he agreed to meet. We met at a Starbucks in Central El Paso. We sat down and discussed some issues I had on my mind. Prior to our meeting, my late wife who had been fighting cancer for about 2.5 years already had been arrested for simple possession. A cancer patient arrested for marijuana, when over half the country at the time had a medical cannabis program, in which a cancer patient such as herself would qualify, and have access to medical cannabis. My whole goal was to get Esparza to stop prosecuting patients caught with cannabis that could prove up their ailments that would qualify them for a card in a medical state.
Esparza wasn’t too fond of the idea. Esparza wanted to know how many actual patients were being arrested.
We also discussed penalty reduction and cite and release. I told him about Joe Moody’s bill. Esparza and Rep. Moody have a history together. Esparza wasn’t interested and said he could not support it, if it was decriminalization. Esparza was against any loosening of penalties for cannabis offenders. In regard to the Cite and Release discussion we had, Esparza also stated that El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles was working on a plan of something similar. Esparza said he would meet with Sheriff Wiles, and get back to me with a follow up meeting. Esparza then he said this (and I directly quote)… “I don’t bullshit. If I say I am going to do something, I will do it. I’m not a bullshitter.” As of today, July of 2019, I have yet to receive a call for that follow up meeting, so basically everything Esparza said, was bullshit. Esparza does bullshit.
Any how, that is my brief history with DA Esparza. So…
On June 10, 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1325 into law legalizing the hemp and it’s byproducts in the State of Texas; including cannabidiol (“CBD”) products. The only aspect that is not legal, is the manufacturing of smoke-able hemp products, although they can be sold legally. Just not made in Texas.
Recently, over the last month:
The Tarrant County DA’s office dismissed over 200 cases related to simple misdemeanor possession. Travis County DAs are dismissing cases, even throwing out 32 felony cases and reject 61 more that police have tried turning over to the DA’s office. Also, DAs in other counties, including the counties where Houston and San Antonio reside, have said that they will stop accepting cases under 4 ounces without them being tested for THC percentage. Ector County seems that they will put these types of cases on hold, for now. This is where DA Jaime Esparza will be on the wrong side of history, especially since ever state that borders Texas, has some kind of access to cannabis in some form.
District Attorneys in major cities across Texas are acting. They are doing what is just and right, for the time being, at least until the THC content can be tested. Except, El Paso.
El Paso is known as one of the most liberal cities in Texas, as we usually keep the tip of Texas blue with the representatives we elect in to office. Usually, liberal ideologies tend to be more liberal in the way they view cannabis, but not Democratic DA Jaime Esparza.
DA Esparza told the Texas Tribune that his office will continue to pursue pot cases. Esparza said there is usually enough circumstantial evidence with marijuana arrests — like if police find a joint or anything capable of being smoked — to convict someone of possession charges without lab testing.
The Texas Tribune also reported that Esparza said:
“For unique drugs, we truly rely on the lab report,” noting that it can be hard to tell if a white powder is cocaine. “But when we talk about marijuana … we weren’t even using lab reports [before].”
This is where his ignorance, and failure to acknowledge laws passed comes into play. Of course they weren’t using lab reports before – because they didn’t have to distinguish between hemp and ‘marijuana’, unlike now. With the new hemp law, it allows a person to possess smoke-able hemp flower, as long as it has under 0.3% THC. Now, DA Esparza is basically saying that he doesn’t care what the law is. Esparza will continue to treat hemp flower under the 0.3% threshold, as regular high THC cannabis; having you arrested and prosecuted the same. Therefore, people are liable to be arrest, prosecuted, and convicted for something that by law, is legal in the State of Texas – all because DA Esparza will continue without determining whether a product has more than the allowable 0.3% THC content. Esparza simply doesn’t care.
This is not okay, regardless if he is retiring after this term or not. El Paso, be careful, as may still be arrested for hemp flower under 0.3% and prosecuted under the current district attorney. When will the people of El Paso, even more so of Texas, become fed up with the waste of tax payer dollars and court resources for something that over half the country is allowed to do???
The time is now.
El Paso, please be careful as we have a District Attorney who is gung-ho on messing up people’s lives over simple misdemeanor cannabis possession. He will still arrest and prosecute hemp flower that is testing under the 0.3% THC threshold.
I wonder if he is so hard pressed at getting convictions on these cases, because they are so easy to acquire. Unlike the Daniel Villegas murder case that he prosecuted, which made him a star attorney at the time of conviction, and was later reversed and the defendant was found not guilty by a jury of his peers. I am sure that stung a little.
The thing is, when DA Jaime Esparza retires, he will retire ignorant and on the wrong side of history.
*I am reaching out for comment from candidates running for El Paso District Attorney in 2020. I will have a follow up article reflecting that once I get responses.
