Local, state officials clash over DA’s marijuana policy
Lt. Gov. Patrick slams ‘pre-charge diversion’; mayor, chiefs back it
Thousands of casual pot smokers will keep clean records and Harris County will save more than $25 million a year under the district attorney’s new “pre-charge diversion” program for those caught with small amounts of marijuana.
The program announced Thursday by District Attorney Kim Ogg allows most offenders with less than 4 ounces of marijuana to avoid a criminal charge by taking a drug education class. It brought sharp criticism from some state leaders but strong support from top law enforcement officers in Houston.
Ogg said the county’s resources would be better spent arresting serious criminals such as burglars, robbers and rapists.
“We have spent in excess of $250 million, over a quarter-billion dollars, (over 10 years) prosecuting a crime that has produced no tangible evidence of improved public safety,” she said. “We have disqualified, unnecessarily, thousands of people from greater job, housing
and educational opportunities by giving them a criminal record for what is, in effect, a minor law violation.”
Ogg formally unveiled the program Thursday flanked by Mayor Sylvester Turner, Police Chief Art Acevedo, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and other local officials whose Democratic ranks were bolstered in the November election. The program is set to start March 1.
Turner, who has long championed criminal justice reform, called the program an “innovative and smart approach” to criminal justice.
“We must always be smart and safe with our law enforcement decisions,” he said. “We don’t want to make things worse, but business as usual is not a solution. We can be tough on crime … but at the same time we can be smart and cost-efficient.”
The policy — one of a growing number in cities across the country to reduce penalties for low-level marijuana possession — means good news for nonviolent offenders who don’t have other charges pending against them.
“They just want to keep productive citizens in a position where their life isn’t crippled by a thing like this,” said one woman who was arrested in Harris County for a small amount of marijuana last year. “It’s going to free up time and resources to focus on violent crime.”
The Baytown woman, 26, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions, was an administrator for a construction company when she was arrested last year. She spent three months on probation but still has to deal with an arrest on her record.
Under the new diversion program, she would not have been arrested and would have no criminal record.
‘Sky will not fall’
Reaction was strong Thursday from both sides of the issue.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick quickly blasted Ogg’s program as akin to Houston becoming a sanctuary city for low-level drug crimes.
“The lieutenant governor has said repeatedly regarding sanctuary cities that he does not believe that law enforcement has the discretion to choose what laws to enforce and what laws to ignore,” said Patrick press secretary Alejandro Garcia. “That is his position regarding DA Ogg’s proposal.”
Gov. Greg Abbott, who in the past has not publicly favored lessening penalties for drug crimes, had no immediate comment Thursday. Aides said they were reviewing the policy.
In June 2015, Abbott signed into law the Texas Compassionate Use Act, allowing the prescription of low-THC cannabis to patients who have been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy.
Law enforcement officials standing with Ogg asked that critics hold their fire until the plan can be implemented.
“The sky will not fall,” said Acevedo, who was police chief in Austin before accepting the Houston job last year. “There are already critics out there. We’ve been down this path before with my old department. Rather than see an uptick in crime, in the city of Austin we reduced violent crime between 2007 and 2014 by 40 percent.”
Gonzalez praised the initiative because it will mean 800 to 1,000 people a month will not have to be processed into and out of the county’s jail. Each offender would normally take eight to 12 hours to be booked into the jail.
“This program means that certain drug offenders will never set foot inside our doors,” he said, “alleviating a great deal of administrative duties.”
Ellis, a former state senator, likewise praised the move.
“For too long, Harris County jails have been filled with people arrested for minor offenses like misdemeanor marijuana possession, leading to dangerous overcrowding and costly prosecutions that do nothing to improve overall public safety,” he said. “This new diversion program has the potential to intervene in this vicious cycle by offering people the opportunity to avoid jail and the stigma of a drug conviction with regard to marijuana possession.”
In Montgomery County, however, District Attorney Brett Ligon accused Ogg of making Harris County a “sanctuary for dope smokers.”
Saving officers’ time
Under the program, police officers would identify suspects with less than 4 ounces of marijuana and no other legal issues or warrants, then offer them the option of taking the drug education class. If the suspect takes the class, the drugs are destroyed and the agreement is filed away.
If the offender does not take the class, an arrest warrant will be issued and the criminal charges will be filed, officials said.
The $150 class will be managed by the county’s probation department, which puts on other classes, Ogg said.
“It’s paid for by the offender, and if the offender is too poor to pay, we will issue a waiver,” Ogg said.
A suspect would be able to take the class over and over again regardless of past criminal history, officials said.
But Ogg said her office would be monitoring the program to make sure it works, and if it doesn’t, it would be changed. That includes people who abuse the program by becoming serial offenders, she said.
Ogg said the program is not “decriminalization” of marijuana — a term that is considered a middle step between strict enforcement and legalization. Ogg said criminal penalties, including up to a year in jail, are still an option if offenders do not follow the requirements.
Supporters acknowledge, however, that it is a lessening of criminal penalties and allows many offenders to avoid criminal prosecution at all.
Under the diversion program, officers would be able to seize the marijuana and drop it off at a police station at the end of their shift, along with a record of the encounter in case the suspect does not take the class.
Activists pleased
Some community activists praised the initiative.
“It’s a sign of intelligence,” said Dean Becker, a contributing drug policy expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute who produces radio programs advocating an end to the drug war for Pacifica Radio.
“It’s showing we’re not going to beat ourselves up for another five or 10 decades of believing we can rid the world of this ‘Devil’s Weed,’” he said.
Becker said Thursday he was celebrating the announcement by smoking marijuana.
“I’m a good citizen. I’ve proven it. I’ve succeeded rather well and I smoke pot every day of my life,” the 68-year-old said. “I’ve been doing it 52 years.”
The Texas Organizing Project, which organizes minority efforts in Harris County and other counties, said the move could particularly help people of color.
“Jailing people for possessing small amounts of marijuana never made sense,” according to an statement from Mary Moreno, TOP communications director. “But it did invite racial profiling by making it easier to jail black men and people of color.”
Officials with the Houston National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws likewise praised the initiative.
“We’ve been fighting for this for a while, so this is elating,” said Sam Oser, communications director for the pro-marijuana group, which campaigned for Ogg last year.