Possession of Marijuana Lawyer in Texas

Marijuana is still illegal in Texas, and people are still being arrested for it every day. If you or someone you love was arrested or cited for possession of marijuana anywhere in Texas, the charge is real, the consequences are real, and the window to do something about it is now — before the case is filed, before the lab report comes back, and before you say something to a police officer that you cannot take back.

Varghese Summersett has defended marijuana possession cases across Texas for more than two decades. Our team includes five Board Certified criminal law attorneys and former prosecutors who have tried more than 700 jury trials. An accusation is not a conviction, and a marijuana charge is one of the most defensible cases in Texas criminal law — if it is handled correctly from the beginning.

Call (817) 203-2220 for a free, confidential consultation. We answer 24/7.

What happens in the first 48 hours shapes the rest of the case. Most of the damage we spend months undoing was done by well-meaning people who thought cooperating would make it go away.

1. Stop talking about the case. Not to the officer, not to the jail phone, not on social media. Jail calls are recorded and prosecutors listen to them. “It was just a little bit” is a confession to possession.
2. Do not consent to any further search. If they already searched, consenting after the fact can waive an argument we would otherwise win.
3. Write down everything while it is fresh. Where you were stopped, what the officer said the reason was, how long you waited, whether a dog was walked around the car, who else was in the vehicle, whether anyone was asked to step out and when.
4. Preserve the evidence you control. Dashcam footage, Ring video, texts, receipts, rideshare records, and the packaging or receipt for anything you bought legally at a licensed retailer.
5. Call a lawyer before the case is filed. In many Texas counties there is a gap of weeks or months between arrest and the filing decision. That gap is where cases get rejected, diverted, or never filed at all — but only if someone is working it.

Marijuana cases turn on suppression, on lab science, and on knowing which prosecutor in which county will actually consider a dismissal. That is a different skill set than simply showing up to court.

• Five Board Certified criminal law attorneys. Fewer than two percent of Texas lawyers are Board Certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
• Former prosecutors on both sides of the aisle. Our team includes former felony chiefs and a former federal prosecutor. We know how filing decisions get made because we used to make them.
• We litigate the stop. Most marijuana cases begin with a traffic stop, a dog sniff, or an odor claim. Those are the pressure points, and we file motions to suppress rather than treating a plea as the default.
• Four offices across Texas. Fort Worth, Dallas, Southlake, and Houston, with attorneys who appear regularly in Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Collin, Fort Bend, and Harris County courts.

Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes. What we can promise is that we will tell you honestly what your case is worth fighting and what it will take.

Possession of marijuana is charged under Texas Health and Safety Code § 481.121. The State must prove you knowingly or intentionally possessed a usable quantity. Punishment scales with weight:

Possession of drug paraphernalia — a pipe, a grinder, rolling papers — is a separate Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500. It sounds minor, and it still creates a criminal record if you simply pay it.

A “usable quantity” matters. Residue, seeds, stems, and trace amounts scraped from a grinder are frequently not a usable quantity as a matter of law. This is a real defense, not a technicality, and it is missed constantly.

The short version, because the internet has made this far more confusing than it needs to be:

Marijuana possession penalties have not changed. Section 481.121 was last amended effective September 1, 2023. Nothing in the 2025 legislative session or in 2026 changed the penalty ranges above. Texas has not legalized marijuana, and the city ordinances that attempted to decriminalize it in Austin, San Marcos, Dallas, and Denton were struck down or enjoined — the Texas Supreme Court declined to revive them in December 2025.

Marijuana is defined by delta-9 THC concentration. Cannabis at or below 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight is hemp and is legal. Above that line it is marijuana. Hemp and marijuana are visually and, to a dog, olfactorily identical — which is the source of the single most powerful defense in these cases.

The 2026 THC crackdown is a separate issue from marijuana. Effective July 31, 2026, Texas reinstated Schedule I classification for manufactured THC compounds including delta-8, delta-10, THC-O, HHC, and THCP, after the Texas Supreme Court lifted a five-year injunction in DSHS v. Sky Marketing. Those substances are now charged under Penalty Group 2 — meaning a product you bought at a smoke shop last month can be a felony today. Hemp-derived delta-9 at or below 0.3% remains legal.

Because that area is changing quickly and is being actively litigated in both state and federal court, we maintain a separate, continuously updated resource on it: the legality of Delta 8, Delta 9, Delta 10 and THCA in Texas. If your case involves a vape, a gummy, a cartridge, or hemp-derived product rather than plant material, start there — then call us, because those cases are felonies and they are being filed right now.

These are the arguments that actually win marijuana cases in Texas courtrooms.

1. The State cannot prove it was marijuana

Since hemp became legal, the State has to prove delta-9 concentration above 0.3%, not merely that a green leafy substance was present. Field tests do not establish concentration. Many labs will not test misdemeanor quantities at all, and prosecutors in several counties have quietly stopped filing cases they cannot prove. This is the first thing we attack.

2. The weight is wrong

Weight determines whether you are facing a misdemeanor or a felony, and the difference between 4 ounces and 4.2 ounces is the difference between county jail and a state jail felony. Packaging, moisture, and sloppy field weighing all get challenged, and we retest when it matters.

For many first-time clients the goal is not winning at trial — it is a dismissal followed by an expunction, so the arrest disappears from your record entirely. Most Texas counties have a path. They are not advertised, the eligibility rules are strict, and the deadlines are short.

Tarrant County runs a Deferred Prosecution Program with a dedicated drug track. It is generally open to first offenders aged 17 to 26 with no prior convictions and no prior diversion, requires a clean drug screen to enter, and runs roughly four months for a misdemeanor with monthly reporting and testing. Successful completion means dismissal and eligibility for expunction.

Dallas County handles many first-time, under-two-ounce cases through declination and cite-and-release rather than through a formal program, and reserves its marijuana pre-trial diversion track largely for repeat or aggravated cases. Dallas also operates the DIVERT court program.

Denton County offers a Pre-Trial Diversion Program through the Criminal District Attorney’s Office, and possession of marijuana is expressly listed among the eligible offenses. It requires a true first offender — no prior diversion, no prior deferred adjudication.

Collin County runs the “Burden to Blessing” pre-trial diversion program, generally six to twelve months, ending in eligibility for expunction. Eligibility is assessed case by case.

Harris County operates the Misdemeanor Marijuana Diversion Program, which applies to four ounces or less and can avoid arrest and booking entirely, requiring a short cognitive class and a fee.

Statewide, deferred adjudication community supervision remains available. Be careful here: deferred adjudication is not a dismissal that can be expunged. It requires a separate petition for nondisclosure and carries waiting periods. We will walk you through the difference, because the distinction is the whole ballgame for your record.

Under Article 14.06(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Texas officers may issue a citation instead of making an arrest for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Several counties and cities, including in Tarrant, Dallas, and Harris, have adopted policies encouraging it.

Here is what people misunderstand, and it costs them:

• A citation is not a dismissal. You were charged. The case still goes to the District Attorney, and it can still result in a conviction and jail time.
• It is discretionary, not a right. Officers may still arrest, and warrants or residency issues usually take you out of eligibility.
• You still have a court date, and missing it creates a warrant. The single most common way a cite-and-release case turns into an arrest is someone assuming the paper was a warning.
• It is still an arrest record. It shows up on background checks until it is dismissed and expunged.

If you were cited and released, you are in the best possible position to get this resolved cleanly — but only if you act before the filing decision.

This is the most dangerous misunderstanding in Texas drug law, and it catches people who thought they were facing a ticket.

Texas defines “marihuana” to exclude the resin extracted from the plant. So wax, shatter, dabs, hash oil, tinctures, vape cartridge oil, and THC edibles are not marijuana at all — they are Penalty Group 2 controlled substances under Health and Safety Code § 481.116. There is no misdemeanor tier. Possession of less than one gram is a state jail felony.

Worse, the statute weighs “adulterants and dilutants.” The entire weight of the brownie, the gummy, or the carrier oil counts — not just the THC in it. A jar of gummies can easily exceed four grams gross weight and expose you to second degree felony punishment of 2 to 20 years.

If your case involves a cartridge or an edible, read our detailed analysis of THC wax, hash oil and concentrate charges in Texas — and call us today. These cases are far more serious than clients expect.

The punishment range is rarely the worst part.

Employment and licensing. A drug conviction shows up on background checks indefinitely and can end nursing, teaching, real estate, commercial driving, and healthcare careers.

Immigration. For non-citizens, a marijuana conviction can be catastrophic. Possession of more than 30 grams is a deportable offense, and even a small case can affect naturalization, adjustment of status, and re-entry. If you are not a citizen, tell us immediately — it changes how we approach the entire case.

Housing, education and family. Public housing eligibility, some financial aid, campus discipline, and custody and possession disputes in family court all get harder.

Firearms. Federal law prohibits firearm possession by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, and that exposure exists independent of any state conviction.

Your driver’s license — and here the law has changed. A first-time misdemeanor drug conviction no longer carries an automatic suspension in Texas. Since Senate Bill 181 took effect, a court may suspend a first offender’s license only on a written finding that suspension serves public safety, and the period is 90 days rather than 180. Automatic suspension still applies to felony drug convictions and to a misdemeanor where there is a prior drug conviction within the previous 36 months. A drug education program requirement still applies to reinstatement. Much of what you will read online about “automatic six-month suspensions” is describing law that changed years ago.

The best marijuana cases — the ones that end in a rejection, a dismissal, or a diversion that gets expunged — are almost always the ones where a lawyer got involved before charges were filed. The worst are the ones where someone waited, talked to police, missed a court date, or pleaded guilty at their first setting to “get it over with.”

Call (817) 203-2220 or reach out through the form on this page for a free, confidential consultation. We have offices in Fort Worth, Dallas, Southlake, and Houston, we answer around the clock, and se habla español.