Recently, Waco School District Superintendent A. Marcus Nelson was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana during a routine traffic stop. The news of his arrest was covered by media across the state. Mr. Nelson, a school official widely praised for his leadership, resigned late last week after his arrest, disappointing his supporters in the community.

In the aftermath of Mr. Nelson’s arrest and resignation, broader questions have emerged for Texans to ponder: Why are we punishing community members by excessively criminalizing a substance that continues to be legalized throughout the country and has proven medical benefits? For his part, Mr. Nelson stated he had purchased the marijuana for chronic back pain, a claim that is supported by scientific evidence.

By criminalizing marijuana in Texas through archaic drug laws, are we hurting communities more than helping them? Importantly, are we really making Texans safer?

These questions have not been totally lost on Texas lawmakers; our legislature is currently considering a number of marijuana reform bills seeking to decriminalize the substance to varying degrees. For example, House Bill 63, a bipartisan proposal authored by Representative Joe Moody that was just passed by a House committee, would reduce the penalty for possession of a small amount of marijuana – under two ounces – from a criminal charge with a sentence of up to six months of jail time to a ticket with a fine.

Currently, Texas wastes hundreds of millions of dollars arresting, crowding the courts, and jailing ordinary Texans for low-level marijuana possession. Despite the decades-long “war on drugs,” our current drug policy has failed to reduce marijuana use and availability and has only diverted valuable resources that could be better invested in protecting our communities and supporting crime survivors. Instead, we waste taxpayer dollars targeting nonviolent marijuana offenses while Texans struggling with drug addiction go without treatment due to lack of resources.

Our state’s current marijuana laws also result in unfair collateral consequences for Texans who get ensnared in the system. Prosecution and jail time can affect a person’s eligibility for veterans’ benefits, student financial aid, employment opportunities, and child custody determinations. Even people who have never been incarcerated can lose their job or housing after an arrest.

Moreover, despite roughly equal usage rates of marijuana, black people in Texas are more than twice as likely as white people to be arrested for possession, revealing stark racial disparities and a consistent trend of racial bias in the enforcement of our marijuana laws. These laws undermine the fairness of our criminal justice system by creating classes of residents that are much more prone to getting stopped, arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to jail time for recreational usage.

Texans can surely agree we must ensure our law enforcement resources are being used wisely and work toward a criminal justice system that treats everyone equally. State lawmakers are in a prime position this legislative session to make our laws more practical with how we spend taxpayer money and how we treat otherwise law-abiding adults who use marijuana.

Our criminal justice system simply cannot do a good job protecting the public from genuine threats to safety if it is wasting so much time and money on petty marijuana offenses. Law enforcement agencies should instead focus on important priorities like supporting crime survivors and investing in community-based opioid treatment and rehabilitation services.

If we value fairness in our criminal justice system, we must support rational changes to our laws. We can start now by telling our elected representatives to support common-sense reform legislation like House Bill 63 that reduces penalties for marijuana possession.

Doing so will allow our police and judicial system to use their resources – and our taxpayer money – to better protect us and our families.

Saldivar is a senior staff attorney at ACLU of Texas.