Governor's Office of General Counsel and Criminal Justice September 4, 1981 TO: William P. Clements, Jr. FRiu David A. Dean SUBJECT: CONSTITUTIONALITY OF N.B. 733 - HEADSHOP/DRUG PARAPHERNALIA BILL MEMO Austin, Texas 78711 Phone (512) 475-3021 A Dallas attorney has filed suit in federal court in Fort Worth for a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of H.B. 733 until the court can issue an opinion on the constitutionality of the law. You are named as a defendant in the suit as are Mark White, Jim Adams, Tarrant County District Attorney Tim Curry, Sheriff Lon Evans, Chief of Police of Fort Worth, and Fort Worth City Attorney Paul Isham. H.B. 733 is the "headshop" bill which was one of the War on Drugs bills. It outlaws the sale of certain paraphernalia which is to be used in conjunction with controlled substances. During the regular session Mark White issued two opinions indicating that the bill, which was based on a federal model bill, was constitutional on its face. The Opin- ions noted that certain provisions of the model bill which had been held unconsti- tutional were either left out or altered in such a way as to cure the constitutional problems. The federal District Court in Fort Worth granted the plaintiff's request for a temporary restraining order which will hold up enforcement of the law until a full hearing is held on September 9. However, according to the Fort Worth District At- torney's office, the court order only applied to the named plaintiff and defendants. This means that the law may still be enforced against other headshops who are not plaintiffs in this suit by law enforcement agencies. I have asked the District Clerk to send us a copy of the judges order. kfb DAVID A. DEAN General Counsel