Houston voters to consider deprioritized enforcement of cannabis laws, ban on no-knock warrants – Houston Public Media

Houston voters to consider deprioritized enforcement of cannabis laws, ban on no-knock warrants  Houston Public Media

A progressive advocacy organization said it submitted more than 40,000 signatures to place the measures on the November ballot. Voters in the city of Houston will consider deprioritizing enforcement of cannabis laws and banning no-knock warrants when they head to the polls in November. The city council approved the ballot referendum on Wednesday, after progressive advocacy organization Ground Game Texas submitted a petition with more than 40,000 signatures — about 15,000 more than required under city code. Ground Game Texas executive director Catina Voellinger called the effort a "class struggle campaign." In Texas, possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The petition calls for the Houston Police Department (HPD) to make misdemeanor cannabis possession its "lowest possible enforcement priority." Under a program operated by the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which prosecutes crimes in a county that includes Houston, officers already have the ability to divert people from jail into a 90-day community supervision and 4-hour cognitive class. "We’re just bringing equity to the city," Voellinger said, pointing to an ACLU Texas report finding Black people are more than two times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white people in the state. RELATED: Texas THC ban continues as federal judge