The Dallas police chief is against decriminalizing 4 ounces of marijuana. Here's why.
DALLAS - The Dallas police chief had a warning about a ballot initiative that would decriminalize up to 4 ounces of marijuana.
He told Dallas City Council members that 4 ounces of marijuana is the amount used by drug dealers.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said it is Dallas' most vulnerable neighborhoods that would be hurt the most by a ballot initiative to decriminalize 4 ounces of marijuana.
The chief brought props to show that there is a big difference between 2 ounces of marijuana and 4 ounces. That’s the amount Dallas voters will decide whether to decriminalize in November.
"In my opinion, 4 ounces is not small or for personal use," Garcia said.
The police chief said 4 ounces is an amount used by drug dealers, pushing back on the idea that criminal enforcement is unfair and heavy-handed.
"4 ounces is approximately 113 grams, which equates to 113 dime bags," he told the city council.
If approved by Dallas voters to stop police from making those arrests, Garcia questions who it would benefit in the end.
"Who prospers? Drug dealers. Drug houses prosper," he said. "Drug houses and dealers who are already tarnishing lives in our most at-risk neighborhoods."
Homicide detectives did a breakdown of murders in 2023. They found 17 of those cases involved some amount of marijuana.
Garcia says this year’s numbers are no different.
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"So far this year, nearly 71% of our drug-related murders have involved some amount of marijuana," he said.
The chief told stories of people who were shot during drug deals.
"4 ounces is not a small amount of marijuana," he said. "And not only will it lead to increased traffic in drug houses in our most vulnerable neighborhoods, but in my 32 years of law enforcement, in my opinion, it will lead to increased illegal sales and deterioration of quality of life in certain areas of our city."
Garcia said while there is a lot of talk about so-called discriminatory arrest numbers, when it comes to marijuana possession, the focus should be on the murder victims.
"Of the 66% of drug-related murders with a marijuana nexus, the racial breakdown of them were 29 murdered individuals that involved marijuana, 27 of the 29 were individuals who were Black or Latino victims," he said. "The disparity in victimization is unacceptable, which is why drug-related crime reduction is critical to our mission."
The hands of the Dallas City Council are tied on the issue.
Due to the number of signatures submitted, the city council is required by law to vote to put the proposition on the November ballot.