I am an assistant Medina County prosecutor and Macedonia resident. I wrote a letter to the editor last month in support of Macedonia’s Issue 20. I would now like to say a few words about why I strongly oppose Ohio’s statewide Issue 1 and hopefully educate some people about Issue 1. I would first note that there isn’t so much a partisan divide on Issue 1 as there is a divide between those who are familiar with the functioning of our criminal justice system and those who are not. I have not seen any Ohio judges or prosecutors support Issue 1. Judges and prosecutors involved with Ohio’s drug courts are especially opposed to Issue 1. Even the criminal defense attorneys that I’ve spoken with or seen posting on Facebook understand what a catastrophic impact Issue 1 would have on Ohio if it passed.
Issue 1 is a proposed amendment to Ohio’s constitution funded by big money out of California. Issue 1 is similar to California’s Proposition 47, a ballot measure that passed there in 2014. I encourage people to read about how Proposition 47 has worked out for California. In short, it hasn’t. Proponents of Issue 1 say that its philosophy is to decriminalize addiction. This might sound good at first glance, but for many reasons Issue 1 would actually make Ohio’s drug problem much worse. In addition, most people don’t realize that Issue 1 also includes a couple of provisions that have nothing at all to do with drugs. Issue 1 takes an ax to a problem that requires precise surgical instruments. Ohio’s drug problem should continue to be thoughtfully addressed by Ohio’s legislature, not by a half-baked ballot initiative originating in California. We have never amended Ohio’s constitution to determine how people should be punished for specific crimes; that’s what we elect a legislature and pass laws to do.
Issue 1 would prohibit any jail time for drug possession until a person’s third offense within 24 months. Issue 1 would mandate that possession of any drug, including fentanyl, heroin, meth, cocaine, LSD, you name it, must be classified as a misdemeanor, not a felony (possession of any of these hard drugs currently is, and has always been, a felony). Issue 1 would also require sentence reductions of up to 25% for any offender who participates in “rehabilitative, work, or educational programming.” The only offenders exempt from this requirement would be offenders incarcerated for “murder, rape, or child molestation” (“child molestation,” by the way, is not the name of a crime in Ohio – the relevant crimes in that arena are called rape, sexual battery, and gross sexual imposition). This obviously goes way beyond drugs and would shorten the sentences of offenders convicted of serious violent crimes like aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, felonious assault, kidnapping, and domestic violence.
Issue 1 would eliminate any accountability for offenders who possess dangerous amounts of deadly drugs. If Issue 1 were to pass, someone could, for example, possess up to 20 grams of fentanyl (which has the capability of killing thousands or even tens of thousands of people), and the crime would still be a misdemeanor. This lack of accountability would have a profoundly negative impact on community safety and would make Ohio a drug haven.
Issue 1 would also have a negative impact on the treatment of drug addicts. Actual court consequences, including jail, are a statistically proven wake-up call and have helped countless offenders turn their lives around. Ohio’s drug courts do great work, but they can only truly work if they include both a carrot and a stick. Issue 1 would gut Ohio’s drug courts because many of the people participating in them would be transferred from common pleas courts to municipal courts ill-equipped to handle them, with fewer resources and no consequences for failure. Many people don’t realize that felonies and misdemeanors are handled by completely different courts. County common pleas courts hear felony cases while municipal courts hear misdemeanor cases. Ohio’s municipal courts are already overwhelmed and under-resourced as they handle misdemeanors like petty theft, simple assault, and drunk driving. Issue 1 would increase the municipal courts’ caseloads exponentially and cause major problems for those courts. Yet, Issue 1 would provide no funding to help the municipal courts handle these new and unwanted drug cases.
Issue 1 will create many new problems for Ohio and solve none of the old ones. Issue 1 will empty Ohio’s jails and fill up its morgues. Please vote NO on Issue 1 and tell everyone you know to do the same.
Vince Vigluicci
