Texas Pot Laws: Penalties, Compassionate Use, and Delta-8

Texas marijuana laws classify cannabis as a controlled substance at every weight, with penalties starting at a Class B misdemeanor for two ounces or less of plant material and reaching a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison for the largest quantities. Concentrates are treated far more harshly than flower: a single THC vape cartridge, wax pen, or edible is a felony regardless of how little THC it actually contains. Medical use is allowed only through a narrow state program, and products legal in neighboring states are not legal here.

Possession of Marijuana Plant Material

Texas Health and Safety Code Section 481.121 makes it a crime to knowingly possess any usable quantity of marijuana, and the punishment scales by weight:1State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 481.121 – Offense: Possession of Marihuana

No proof of intent to sell is required. Simple possession alone is enough to charge any of these offenses. The line that matters most in daily life is four ounces: at or below it the charge stays a misdemeanor, and above it the case becomes a felony with lasting consequences.

Vape Cartridges, Wax, and Edibles Are Felonies

This is where most people get caught off guard. THC in concentrated form, including vape cartridges, wax, shatter, oils, and edibles, is prosecuted under Penalty Group 2 instead of the marijuana possession statute. There is no misdemeanor tier at all. Any amount is a felony.7State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 481.116 – Offense: Possession of Substance in Penalty Group 2

  • Less than one gram: state jail felony, 180 days to two years and a fine up to $10,000.
  • One gram to less than four grams: third-degree felony, two to 10 years.
  • Four grams to less than 400 grams: second-degree felony, two to 20 years.
  • 400 grams or more: first-degree felony, five to 99 years or life and a fine up to $50,000.

The statute measures weight “including adulterants or dilutants.”7State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 481.116 – Offense: Possession of Substance in Penalty Group 2 For edibles that means the entire product gets weighed, not just the THC inside it. A five-gram gummy with a trace of THC counts as five grams of a Penalty Group 2 substance, which lands past the four-gram threshold and in second-degree felony range. A bag of gummies bought lawfully in Colorado can expose the person carrying it to years in a Texas prison based on the weight of the candy alone.

Selling or Sharing Marijuana

Delivery, which under Section 481.120 includes selling, giving away, or otherwise transferring marijuana, carries steeper penalties than possession at comparable weights. Handing a friend a joint counts.8State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 481.120 – Offense: Delivery of Marihuana The only concession is a slightly lower charge for giving away a quarter ounce or less at no cost, which is a Class B misdemeanor; selling the same quarter ounce is a Class A misdemeanor. Everything above a quarter ounce is a felony, with the top tier (more than 2,000 pounds) carrying 10 to 99 years or life and a fine up to $100,000. Possession of five to 50 pounds is a third-degree felony, but delivering that same amount is a second-degree felony.

Driving After Using Marijuana

Texas prosecutes marijuana-impaired driving under the standard DWI statute. Penal Code Section 49.04 makes it an offense to operate a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated,9State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 49.04 – Driving While Intoxicated and the definition of “intoxicated” includes loss of normal mental or physical faculties due to a controlled substance.10State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Chapter 49 – Intoxication and Alcoholic Beverage Offenses A first-offense marijuana DWI is a Class B misdemeanor with a minimum of 72 hours in jail.

Unlike alcohol, there is no numeric THC limit in state law. Prosecutors rely on officer observations, field sobriety performance, and blood tests, so even a small amount of THC in your system can support a DWI charge if the state can convince a jury you were impaired. Marijuana found in the car can produce a possession charge stacked on top of the DWI.

Consequences After the Case Ends

Driver’s License Suspension

Under Transportation Code Section 521.372, any felony drug conviction brings an automatic 90-day driver’s license suspension. A misdemeanor drug conviction brings an automatic suspension if you had a prior drug conviction within the previous 36 months, and the sentencing court can order a suspension for a first misdemeanor if it finds suspension serves public safety. If you don’t have a license, the state can refuse to issue one.11State of Texas. Texas Transportation Code 521.372 – Suspension or License Denial

Firearms

Federal law bars anyone who is an unlawful user of a controlled substance from possessing firearms or ammunition.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Because marijuana remains a Schedule I substance under federal law for most purposes, a regular marijuana user in Texas is federally prohibited from owning a gun. That includes patients enrolled in the Compassionate Use Program, since federal law does not recognize the state medical exception. The ATF’s purchase form (4473) asks the question directly, and lying on it is a separate federal crime.

Medical Marijuana Through the Compassionate Use Program

Texas allows a narrow medical program under the Compassionate Use Act. A physician registered with the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas can prescribe low-THC cannabis to a patient with a qualifying condition,13State of Texas. Texas Occupations Code 169.003 – Prescription of Low-THC Cannabis to Patients With Qualifying Conditions and qualifying conditions include epilepsy and seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, ALS, autism, cancer, PTSD, chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, Crohn’s and other inflammatory bowel disease, incurable neurodegenerative disease, and terminal or hospice conditions. Products are limited to no more than 10 milligrams of THC per dosage unit and must be purchased from dispensing organizations regulated by the Department of Public Safety.14Texas State Law Library. Compassionate Use Program – Cannabis and the Law

The program does not offer reciprocity. A medical card from another state has no legal effect in Texas, and a Texas prescription will not shield you in most other states.

Hemp and Delta-8

House Bill 1325, passed in 2019, legalized hemp by defining it as any part of the cannabis plant containing 0.3% Delta-9 THC or less on a dry weight basis.15Texas Legislature Online. Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 112 – State Hemp Production Plan Anything above that threshold is still marijuana under the criminal code. That line created a large retail market for hemp-derived products, including Delta-8 THC, which is intoxicating but synthesized from legal hemp and keeps the Delta-9 content under the limit.

Delta-8 remained on store shelves in early 2026 after court rulings blocked state health officials from restricting it. A federal change is coming: legislation signed in late 2025 shifts the hemp threshold to 0.4% THC per container and directs the FDA to publish a list of intoxicating cannabinoids, including Delta-8, that will become illegal to sell. The new federal rules take effect in November 2026. As of early 2026 the FDA had not yet published its list, and how Texas will revise its own definition in response is not yet known.16Texas State Law Library. General Information – Cannabis and the Law

Local Cite-and-Release and Decriminalization

Several Texas cities and counties have scaled back enforcement of low-level possession, but none of them changed state law. Austin voters approved Proposition A in 2022, which bars city police from citing or arresting for misdemeanor marijuana possession outside violent felony investigations and prevents the city from paying for lab testing of suspected marijuana in most cases. Harris County, Dallas County, Bexar County, El Paso, and other jurisdictions have cite-and-release programs letting officers issue a summons for four ounces or less rather than booking the person into jail. Travis County has used a diversion option involving a small fine and a short class for two ounces or less.

These are local policies only. A state trooper or an out-of-jurisdiction sheriff’s deputy in the same area is not bound by them, and district attorneys keep the power to prosecute under state law. Treating a city’s program as blanket legalization is a serious misread.

Marijuana at Texas Airports

In April 2026 the TSA updated its screening guidance to list medical marijuana as permitted in carry-on and checked bags, following a federal rescheduling order that moved FDA-approved cannabis products to Schedule III.17Federal Register. Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of FDA-Approved Products The rescheduling applies only to products the FDA has specifically approved. The marijuana plant itself and most THC products remain Schedule I federally, and TSA’s own page notes that cannabis-infused products remain illegal under federal law except those at or below the 0.3% Delta-9 threshold.18TSA. Medical Marijuana

TSA officers don’t actively hunt for drugs, but when they find a suspected illegal substance during screening they refer it to law enforcement. At a Texas airport that means officers who enforce Texas law. Carrying a THC vape cartridge through security at DFW or Hobby can produce a state felony arrest regardless of what the updated TSA page says about medical marijuana generally.