MOUNT VERNON — Ohioans will vote on one state issue in the Nov. 6 general election, a constitutional amendment that changes the penalties for buying, possessing, and using drugs.
The goal of State Issue 1, known as the Neighborhood, Safety, Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Amendment, is to reduce the number of people in Ohio’s prisons for low-level, nonviolent crimes such as drug use or possession and put the savings into drug treatment, crime victim, and rehabilitation programs.
“There’s not a lot of disagreement in principle with that,” said Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville. “How you put that principle into practice and how it comes about has a lot of unintended consequences.”
If passed, Issue 1 would make the following changes:
- Reduce felony 4 and 5 offenses for drug possession and use to misdemeanors; drug trafficking remains a felony charge
- Prohibits jail time for the first two misdemeanors committed within a 24-month period; treatment programs or probation are the only options
- Prohibits courts from sending offenders on probation for felonies back to prison for non-criminal violations
- Allows offenders serving time for possessing, buying, or using drugs to request the court to change their status and be re-sentenced or released
- Creates a program where offenders serving a sentence can receive credits for participating in rehabilitative, work, or educational programs
“Making some F4 and F5 offenses misdemeanors, there is continuing talk about that,” said McConville. “That’s something that should be legislative, not enshrined in the constitution. With a constitutional amendment, if there are issues with the law, it becomes very, very hard to change.”
Regarding the prohibition on judges giving jail time for the first two offenses, McConville said, “that’s taking that perogative away from judges. They don’t have any leverage they can use to keep people from using. Arguably, we could see more overdoses.”
The credit program for offenders who participate in rehabilitative and educational activities is also open to those serving time for drug trafficking, aggravated robbery, and other violent crimes. The exceptions are those convicted of murder, rape, or child molestation. According to McConville, the problem with the term “child molestation” is that it has no definition in Ohio law. Sex offenses are treated differently based on age and circumstances.
Another potential problem McConville points to is the change Issue 1 has on possession levels, also referred to as bulk amounts, specifically in relation to fentanyl. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid responsible for a rise in overdose deaths in Ohio over the past few years.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, 58 percent of Ohio’s overdose deaths in 2016 involved fentanyl. Knox County has seen three fatal fentanyl overdoses.
On Aug. 1, Gov. John Kasich signed Senate Bill 1 which scales down the bulk amount of fentanyl to under 20 grams. It goes into effect Nov. 1, five days before the general election. Issue 1 reverts to possession levels in effect in January 2018 (20 grams).
“It makes it as if Senate Bill 1 never even happened,” said McConville. “Twenty grams of fentanyl is enough to kill thousands of people. Ingesting a minute trace to a non-drug user can be fatal.
“The Legislature will have to go in and adopt a lot of legislation to fill in these holes if this gets passed,” he said, adding that because the issue takes effect within 30 days if passed, the Legislature will have to patch these holes in a lame duck session.
Outside Influences
McConville said Issue 1 is similar to the iconic scene in the movie “The Fugitive,” when Harrison Ford as fugitive Richard Kimble turns around, caught in the headlight glare of a train barreling down upon him.
“It was a ‘what just happened?’ sort of moment,” he said, referring to the news that the issue would be on the ballot.
Campaign backers started collecting signatures in January, and on July 4, submitted 730,031 signatures. At least 306,591 had to be valid for the issue to make the ballot. On July 23, Secretary of State John Husted certified the issue for the ballot with 351,091 valid signatures.
Sponsors of the measure spent nearly $3.7 million to collect the signatures. The Ohio Safe and Healthy Communities Campaign is spearheading the measure and has raised $4.86 million. The top five campaign donors include:
- Open Society Policy Center, $1.5 million (George Soros)
- Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy, $1 million (Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan)
- The Open Philanthropy Project Action Fund, $1 million (Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook and Asana)
- Tides Advocacy, $604,141.58
- Black Fork Strategies LLC, $300,000
Opponents of Issue 1
Gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine (R), Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, Ohio Supreme Court, retired Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer, and Republican State Rep. Rick Carfagna (68th District) are among those who oppose State Issue 1. Other organizations opposed to the measure include:
- Ohio Association of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
- Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association
- Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center
- Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association
- Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association
- Ohio State Bar Association
- Association of Municipal and County Court Judges of Ohio
- County Auditors Association of Ohio
- CorJus
- Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association
- Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police
- Ohio Business Roundtable
Supporters of Issue 1
Gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray (D) and 68th District state representative challengers Kathleen Tate (Democrat), and Patrick Glasgow (Libertarian) are among those who support Issue 1. Organizations that support the issue include:
- Alliance for Safety and Justice
- American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio
- Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy
- Ohio Education Association
- Ohio Justice & Policy Center
- Ohio Organizing Collaborative
- Ohio Transformation Fund
- Open Society Policy Center
Over the next several days, Knox Pages will explore Issue 1 more in-depth as it relates to members of local law enforcement, judicial system, and recovery treatment programs.
