San Antonio THC Vape Defense Attorney

Under Texas law, the problem is not the amount. It is the form.

Marijuana flower and THC oil are treated as two completely different things. Marijuana plant material sits in its own category under Health and Safety Code section 481.121, where less than two ounces is a Class B misdemeanor. THC oil, wax, shatter, dabs, edibles, and the concentrate inside every vape cartridge fall under Penalty Group 2, section 481.103, the same group as drugs like MDMA and PCP. Possession of any amount is a felony.

That is why someone who thinks they are facing a minor marijuana ticket is often booked on POSS CS PG2, a felony offense.

Texas weighs the entire substance, including the carrier oil and any other material mixed in, not the pure THC. That single rule turns small cases into serious ones.

A standard cartridge holds roughly half a gram to a full gram, so one cartridge is already a state jail felony. Two cartridges can push the total past one gram and into third-degree territory. A jar of edibles is charged by the full weight of the food, even when it holds only milligrams of actual THC. A 100-gram bag of gummies can be charged at 100 grams. Challenging how the State weighed and measured the substance is one of the most important parts of a strong defense.

Most of these arrests start small. A driver is stopped for a minor traffic issue, an officer sees a vape pen or claims to smell marijuana, and the search that follows produces a cartridge. Others begin during DWI investigations, in vehicle searches near UTSA and the Broadway area, or at the airport when TSA hands a traveler's luggage to local police. What felt like a routine stop becomes a felony booking in Bexar County.

A THC concentrate charge is not a fine-only offense, so it does not stay in a municipal court. After the arrest, the case runs through the Central Magistrate Office, where bond and the first setting are decided, and then to the Bexar County courts downtown. A state jail felony is filed in the criminal district courts at the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center on Dolorosa Street.

Some Texas counties have eased up on low-level marijuana. Bexar County has not eased up on THC concentrates. The District Attorney's Office still files felony charges for vape cartridges, wax, and edibles, even for a first offense and even when the amount is small. Austin charged these cases for that same office, so he knows how they are built and where they tend to give.