Houston Voters Approve No-Knock, Marijuana Limits

Houston voters approved Proposition A by roughly 72%, making enforcement of Class A and B misdemeanor marijuana possession the police department’s lowest priority and barring officers from requesting, executing or participating in no-knock warrants. Officers must knock, announce themselves and wait at least 15 seconds before entering. The measure encourages diversion where legally permitted and requires audits and public reporting, including data on recent arrests, demographics and related costs; it does not legalize marijuana or prevent enforcement of state law. The initiative follows a sharp rise in misdemeanor marijuana arrests, with Black residents disproportionately affected, and comes after a 2023 Texas law limited prosecutors’ ability to decline entire categories of cases, though experts cite multiple causes for enforcement trends. Its practical effect may be limited because Houston police had already adopted a no-knock warrant ban after a deadly 2019 raid, and similar marijuana-enforcement measures elsewhere in Texas have had little measurable impact.