Montgomery County Drug Possession Lawyer
Facing a Drug Charge in Conroe, The Woodlands, or Spring?
Many drug cases in Montgomery County start with a traffic stop on I-45, Highway 105, or Highway 242 that turns into a vehicle search. The most important question in many of these cases isn’t what was found. It’s whether the officer had the legal right to search in the first place.
How Texas Grades Drug Possession
Texas sorts drugs into “penalty groups,” and the charge depends on the group and the weight, including any mixture or filler.
Penalty Group 1 (cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and others):
| Amount | Level |
|---|---|
| Under 1 gram | State jail felony (180 days to 2 years) |
| 1 to 4 grams | Third-degree felony (2 to 10 years) |
| 4 to 200 grams | Second-degree felony (2 to 20 years) |
| 200 to 400 grams | First-degree felony (5 to 99 years or life) |
| 400 grams or more | 10 to 99 years or life |
Marijuana:
| Amount | Level |
|---|---|
| 2 ounces or less | Class B misdemeanor (up to 180 days) |
| 2 to 4 ounces | Class A misdemeanor (up to 1 year) |
| 4 ounces to 5 pounds | State jail felony |
| 5 to 50 pounds | Third-degree felony |
THC vape cartridges, wax, and edibles are usually charged under Penalty Group 2, where less than a gram is already a state jail felony. That’s why a vape pen can be charged more harshly than a bag of marijuana. See Possession of Marijuana Edibles.
Possession in a drug-free zone, such as near a school, can raise the minimum punishment.
Common Defenses
- An illegal stop or search. If the stop, the detention, or the search wasn’t legal, the evidence can be suppressed.
- Possession. Being near drugs isn’t the same as possessing them. In a shared car or home, the State has to connect the drugs to you specifically.
- Lab testing. The lab must identify the substance and its weight. With suspected marijuana, it has to distinguish legal hemp from marijuana by THC concentration.
- Chain of custody. Evidence has to be tracked from the scene to the lab to the courtroom.
Options Short of Trial
Depending on your record and the charge, options can include probation, deferred adjudication, or, at the District Attorney’s discretion, pretrial diversion. The Montgomery County DA treats pretrial diversion as an exception granted in compelling circumstances, not something every first-time defendant receives. Your record and how the case is presented matter.
Related Pages
Talk to a Montgomery County Defense Lawyer
Call (713) 222-1800 for a free consultation, available 24/7. Hablamos español. Chúng tôi nói tiếng Việt.