TAFT BRINGS ISSUE 1 FIGHT TO CITY NEIGHBORHOOD

Gov. Bob Taft and other opponents of an issue that would allow some
nonviolent offenders treatment instead of prison championed "tough love" as
a better option yesterday at a drug treatment center on Cleveland's East Side.

"Issue 1 takes away effective tough-love treatment," said Taft, speaking at
Circle for Recovery, 7049 Superior Ave.

The criminal justice system is best able to impose tough love, Taft said,
because the threat of jail time is a big incentive to staying clean. The
system already has provisions for getting treatment for many of the first-
and second-time offenders that Issue 1 targets, he said.

Ellen Jones, one of about 10 speakers at the campaign event, said that
without prison she would still be a drug addict. She got out of jail about
five years ago and has since graduated from college and worked in drug
treatment counseling.

"Going to prison saved my life," she said, pausing frequently to cry. "I
needed to be a captive audience to stop using."

Supporters of Issue 1 argue that effective treatment is possible without jail.

The focus would not be on leniency, but giving people a second chance, said
Joseph Rice, a consultant for the statewide committee supporting Issue 1.
If a person blew that opportunity, the threat of jail would still linger.

"We don't believe that a jail environment is conducive to helping people
kick a drug habit," he said. "Then there is the stigma of having a record,
and not being able to find work or get a student loan."

Taft and the Issue 1 opponents chose a predominately black, inner-city
neighborhood for their news conference, home to a constituency that has
tended to favor Issue 1. In Greater Cleveland, Issue 1 is endorsed by most
black elected officials, clergy and community groups. Telephone surveys
have also shown blacks to favor Issue 1 in significantly higher numbers
than whites.

Among concerns voiced by Issue 1's supporters is what they view as a
disproportionate number of blacks serving sentences for drug crimes.
Sentences for crack cocaine, which studies show blacks more frequently
possess, are stiffer than those meted out for the powder form of the drug,
which whites tend to prefer, they say.

Issue 1, supporters say, will have a leveling effect because it will not
limit eligibility for treatment programs based on what type of drugs
prompted the arrest.

But not all blacks are convinced.

"Issue 1 doesn't do a thing - not one iota - to reduce the number of
African-American men in prison," Toledo Mayor Jack Ford said in an
interview yesterday morning. Ford, who is black, co-chairs the anti-Issue 1
campaign with Ohio first lady Hope Taft.

Legislative measures would better address the concern, Ford said. He
supports a bill sponsored by State Rep. Sylvester Patton, a Youngstown
Democrat, that seeks to increase the penalties for powder to match those of
crack. The governor favors having the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
tackle the matter.