Julia Reihs | KUT
In Texas, misdemeanor marijuana possession carries possible jail time and fines.
Under Mayor John Whitmire, Houston police officers have arrested about 440 people per year for misdemeanor marijuana possession — up from an annual average of about 35 from 2021 through 2023 — according to data obtained by Houston Public Media.
The revelation comes two months before voters could instruct the Houston Police Department (HPD) to make “misdemeanor marijuana possession its lowest possible enforcement priority.” Progressive advocacy organization Ground Game Texas said it collected about 40,000 signatures on the petition for the ballot measure, approved by the city council in August.
“That’s just wild,” Catina Voellinger, executive director of Ground Game Texas, said in response to the data. “That just makes the case even stronger of why we need these policies.”
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In August, Whitmire told reporters the ballot proposition was not needed.
“Low-level marijuana hasn’t been a priority in, quite frankly, a long time,” Whitmire said on Aug. 12.
His office did not respond to requests for comment on the data showing arrests have increased under his administration.
Houston Police Officers’ Union president Douglas Griffith questioned the data, which was provided by HPD in response to a public records request, claiming the sharp spike in arrests could be due to “a reporting issue in how it’s reported.”
An HPD spokesperson did not respond to questions about the data.
Griffith argued the ballot measure wouldn’t change the way officers enforce local and state laws.
“What you need to do is shut up and let law enforcement do their job, and you worry about trying to make sure people get rehab,” Griffith said. “Trust me, we have better things to do than worry about some petty marijuana case.”
Related: Houston voters to consider deprioritized enforcement of cannabis laws, ban on no-knock warrants
In Texas, possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana carries up to a year in jail and a fine of as much as $4,000.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes crimes in Houston, operates a program in which officers can choose to divert people from jail into 90-day community supervision and a 4-hour cognitive class.
A spokesperson for the DA’s office described it as “a robust marijuana diversion program,” adding “our focus is going after drug trafficking and organized crime.”
The data showed Black people were the most likely to be arrested for marijuana-related crimes — comprising about 72% of all arrests over the past five years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, less than 23% of the Houston population was Black as of 2025.