OHIO VOTERS TO DECIDE BEST COURSE FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Mansour Bey credits a drug treatment program for helping
him kick a crack cocaine addiction. Nola Tinkey says a tough love approach
that briefly sent her to jail got her off drugs.

The two are on opposite sides of an Ohio ballot initiative pushed by three
billionaires - and strongly opposed by the Republican governor and much of
the criminal justice establishment.

The proposal, listed as Issue 1 on Ohio's Nov. 5 ballot, would require
judges to impose treatment, not jail time, for nonviolent first- and
second-time offenders who request it.

The maximum sentence under current law is 18 months for a second offense.
Issue 1 would cap jail time at 90 days.

Issue 1 "saves money and it saves lives. That's the bottom line," said Ed
Orlett, a former legislator who is director of the Ohio Campaign for New
Drug Policies. "We can treat six people for what it costs to keep one in
prison."

Three billionaires - University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, New York
financier George Soros and Ohio insurance executive Peter Lewis - have
spent millions over the past four years backing similar ballot initiatives,
which they depict as a referendum on the war against drugs. Backers of the
Ohio proposal say passage would help offenders kick their habits and avoid
turning to more serious crimes. They say treatment costs about $4,000 a
year for each offender versus about $22,000 for incarceration.

"Without treatment, a person never truly understands the nature of the
disease of addiction," said Bey, 60, a Toledo minister recovering from
addictions to crack, heroin and amphetamines. He supports Issue 1.

Opponents say Issue 1, if approved, would circumvent the justice system,
putting criminals on the street and removing any incentive for quitting drugs.

Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican running for re-election, has called the drug
issue an assault on Ohio's criminal justice system that is "seductive,
deceptive and dangerous."

The federal government has not actively opposed Issue 1, but both John
Walters, President Bush's drug czar, and Drug Enforcement Administration
director Asa Hutchinson spoke against the proposal during unrelated visits
to Ohio this year.

Both camps in the Ohio campaign have been looking at the impact of the
Arizona treatment law adopted in 1996. According to 1999 report by the
Arizona Supreme Court, 64 percent of drug offenders diverted under the law
completed their treatment program, compared with 62 percent of those who
received treatment but were not charged with a drug crime.

Judges have become frustrated with drug offenders sentenced under the 1996
law who fail to show up for treatment because they know they won't be
imprisoned, said Jerry Landau, a special assistant Maricopa County attorney
in Phoenix.

But supporters of the initiative say the 64 percent success rate is positive.