{"id":398875,"date":"2026-08-06T01:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398875\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T01:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:50:09","slug":"criminal-defense-attorney-warns-of-felony-risk-as-texas-ban-on-synthetic-thc-products-takes-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398875\/","title":{"rendered":"Criminal defense attorney warns of felony risk as Texas ban on synthetic THC products takes effect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A new Texas law banning several popular synthetic THC products is now in effect, and items such as gummies and vapes that were legal to buy a few days ago could potentially turn into felony cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The law targets synthetic forms of THC commonly sold at hemp shops, including delta-8, delta-10, THCP and THCA flower. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Criminal defense attorney Bobby Barrera said some products such as gummies and vapes are now treated as Schedule I controlled substances under state law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cYour gummies now have the same criminal liability as cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, LSD, all of those that we consider dangerous drugs,\u201d Barrera said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The Bexar County District Attorney\u2019s Office and the San Antonio Police Department told KSAT <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ksat.com\/news\/local\/2026\/08\/02\/texas-cracks-down-on-synthetic-thc-products-hemp-shops-adjust\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">they plan to enforce the law<\/a> like any other. The Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office said it will do the same, but added it does not plan large-scale enforcement efforts and will continue focusing on violent crime. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Barrera said enforcement can be complicated because it may be difficult for officers to tell the difference between legal hemp products and illegal synthetic THC products without lab testing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cThat\u2019s always been an issue with those cases, which is why many jurisdictions don\u2019t bother prosecuting marijuana cases, because they have to lab it,\u201d Barrera said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Barrera expects arrests could increase, especially in situations where someone is searched during another enforcement action, such as a traffic stop. He also said he believes demand will continue despite the ban.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cIt was like prohibition,\u201d Barrera said. \u201dYou can\u2019t take it away from these people. They\u2019re going to continue to use it. Only now it\u2019s a felony.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Barrera advises residents to check product labels, know what they have, and understand that possession could lead to a felony charge and jail time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Read also: <\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KSAT &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A new Texas law banning several popular synthetic THC products is now in effect, and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[82,27,29,293,28,27605],"class_list":["post-398875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-san-antonio","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-legislature","tag-texas-news","tag-thc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}