Houston voters will get the final say this November on two hot button issues after City Council approved putting both on the ballot. Together, the measures would change how the city handles certain marijuana possession cases and how police carry out search warrants, placing decisions that have divided many Texas communities directly in the hands of residents.
The first measure focuses on marijuana enforcement. If approved, Houston police would make low level marijuana possession their lowest priority, effectively pushing minor cases to the bottom of the department's list of concerns rather than treating them as a focus for officers on the street.
Advocates say the change would help fix what they describe as a broken system. They point to arrest data showing that Black residents are arrested for marijuana at higher rates than white residents in Texas, arguing that shifting enforcement priorities would reduce those disparities and free up police resources for more serious crimes.
The second measure on the ballot is a referendum that would ban no knock search warrants entirely. Under the proposal, officers would be required to knock and wait at least 15 seconds before entering a property, a step supporters say would give residents a chance to respond and reduce the risk of violent confrontations at the door.
The push to end no knock warrants follows the controversial 2019 drug raid on Harding Street, an operation that left two people dead. That case drew intense scrutiny of how such warrants are obtained and executed, and it has remained a rallying point for those seeking changes to Houston police practices.
Houston is not alone in weighing the marijuana question. Advocates have introduced similar marijuana ordinances in other Texas cities, including Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton, as part of a broader effort to loosen enforcement of low level possession across the state.
Those efforts have run into resistance. In Killeen, an overwhelming 70 percent of voters approved their ballot measure back in 2022, but commissioners in Bell County eventually took the city to court and forced officials to drop the ordinance, arguing that it violated the state constitution. That legal fight offers a preview of the challenges Houston could face if its measures pass.