Should Ohio reduce drug penalties? Examining both sides of Issue 1
In a few weeks, Ohioans start voting on a major drug and crime issue that would have a significant impact on the justice system.
Opponents of Issue 1 consider it dangerous, warning it would actually make the drug problem worse.
Supporters decry the fear tactics and see Issue 1 as a sensible, affordable way to expand treatment and reduce the prison population.
Both sides pour passion into their thought-provoking arguments about the issue.
For some, the battle is political. For some, it is pragmatic policy-making.
For some, including Elizabeth Hopkins, it is deeply personal.
has buried three close friends who overdosed on drugs and has recovered seven bodies on the street.
She is the mother of two children, ages 5 and 3.
"I also struggled with addiction in my earlier years of my life," she said. "I know what it feels like for society to say that you're not worth it."
She has seen the inside of jail cells and believes putting addicts there is self-defeating for society at large.
Ohio voters have an important and consequentialdecision to make in November.
The constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot is called The Ohio Neighborhood Safety, Drug Treatment, and Rehabilitation Amendment.
It would reclassify drug possession as a misdemeanor crime, except for drug possession or trafficking offenses categorized as first-, second- or third-degree felonies.
It would prohibit jail sentences for drug possession until an individual's third offense within 24 months.
It would allow inmates convicted of crimes to reduce their sentences up to 25 percent by completing rehabilitative, work or educational programming.
And it would send cost savings from reduced prison expenses to drug treatment programs and crime victim services.
Voters will be asked to decide if the state should reduce low-level drug felonies to misdemeanors.
Those who say no warn that the consequences would be deadly.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters is among those raising the cautionary flag."We try to get the people that you can save and save them," said Deters, who helped start the state's first drug court in Hamilton County. "But there are some people that you can't save."
Hopkins bristled at such a notion and emphasized that everyone has inherent worth.
She said she felt like a number when she was in jail.
"And just because you're addicted to a substance doesn't mean that you are not worth trying to save," she said.
At a forum on Monday night, the Woman's City Club hosted a panel discussion about Issue 1.
Judge Jody Luebbers, of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, told the crowd that, although there were some good ideas in the amendment, it takes power away from the Legislature and the courts and puts decisions into the hands of people who would not be accountable to the public.
"I do not send drug possessors on a first offense to prison," she said.
Voters heard opponents caution against losing leverage in the courts to steer defendants into treatment.
They heard supporterscontend that society can have more safety with less incarceration.
"This is about who are we as human beings," said Hopkins.
Stephen JohnsonGrove, of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, helped write the amendment, which acquired 731,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
He projects there would be 10,000 fewer prisoners in Ohio during the first year if Issue 1 is enacted.
"We take the prison cost savings out of that state budget for the prison system and redirect them into the treatment services we need," said JohnsonGrove.
Republican State Attorney General Mike DeWine, who is running for governor, called Issue 1 reckless and too lenient.
"We want to get people treatment," DeWine told a roomful of supporters in downtown Cincinnati today. "The truth is: Sometimes, the only way to really get them treatment is to have something over their head."
That something, he said, is the threat of prison.
His opponent, Democrat Richard Cordray, maintained we'll never arrest our way out of the opioid crisis. Cordray, who supports Issue 1, released this statement today: "Eight years of Mike DeWine's failure have given us a tripling of opioid-related deaths and rising drug crime. The time for him to step up and solve this problem has long passed. Now, he wants to play politics with the opioid epidemic as it is destroying families and communities across Ohio. As governor, I will work with law enforcement to make sure drug dealers are convicted and serve long prison sentences while people who need substance abuse treatment can get it in our communities. And I will make sure that the big drug companies -- who have long bankrolled Mike DeWine's campaigns -- are held accountable."
DeWine warned about the unintended consequences of passing Issue 1, saying it would create a safe haven for dealers, who would conclude that simple possession would carry virtually no consequences.
"He's wrong," said DeWine about Cordray's position on the matter. DeWine sees a basic lack of understanding among supporters of Issue 1 about how the system actually works.
"This would decimate our drug court," said DeWine.
Hopkins said 50 years of using jail as a tool in the war on drugs has not produced the desired effect.
She said jail worked against her self-worth and her friend's redemption.
"And every day I grieve and every day I fight for this because, to me, it's a way that I can make their lives matter," she said.
One of the friends she lost was the person who gave her her first kiss, she said.