Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB597 by Madden (Relating to designating certain synthetic cannabinoids as controlled substances under the Texas Controlled Substances Act; providing penalties and establishing certain criminal consequences or procedures.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code by adding Penalty Group 2-A to the Texas Controlled Substances Act, consists of any quantity of a synthetic chemical compound that is a cannabinoid receptor agonist and mimics the pharmacological effect of naturally occurring cannabinoids. The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code by providing penalties for the manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to deliver, of a substance in Penalty Group 2-A, based on the punishment prescribed for a Penalty Group 2 offense. The offense would be punishable at various levels, ranging from state jail felony punishment to life imprisonment, with the level of punishment increasing in severity based on the amount by weight of the substance manufactured, delivered, or possessed with intent to deliver. The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code by creating penalties for the possession of a substance in Penalty Group 2-A. The offense would be punishable at various levels, ranging from Class B Misdemeanor punishment to life imprisonment, with the level of punishment increasing in severity based on the amount by weight of the controlled substance, or the controlled substance added to or combined with plant material, knowingly or intentionally possessed. The bill would also include certain possession of a substance in Penalty Group 2-A offenses in the list of offenses for which a punishment enhancement provision relating to Drug-Free Zones is applied. The bill would amend the Code of Criminal to include provisions relating to state jail felony community supervision procedures for possession involving a substance in Penalty Group 2-A.
A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or Class A Misdemeanor punishment (mandatory post conviction community supervision). A felony of the third degree is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. A felony of the second degree is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. A felony of the first degree is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which a penalty is applied for any criminal offense or increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jail, state jail or prison. For this analysis, it is assumed the bill would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.