OHIO'S ISSUE 1 OFFERS 'GET OUT OF JAIL FREE' CARD TO DRUG ABUSERS DESPITE
PRIOR RECORDS

Drug abuse, possession or sale is not only illegal, but extremely dangerous
- - sometimes deadly. There can be no argument about that. Nonetheless,
proponents of Ohio's Issue 1, to be placed on the ballot Tuesday, are
hoping voters will ignore these hard truths in favor of a virtual
legalization of drugs in the state.

Issue 1 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would give treatment
instead of a prison sentence to anyone convicted of a first- or second-time
non-violent drug offense. The amendment would wipe the slate clean for many
who, if convicted after the amendment went into effect, would be considered
first-timers, regardless of the length of their prior records. As the
language of the amendment suggests, it is possible that these same
offenders would continue to elude prison time after a second conviction,
even if, in reality, it was the 12th or 13th time they were caught.

Those who support the proposal maintain that relapses into addiction are
common for those released from prison with no treatment. Imagine how much
higher the relapse rate would be for those who were simply slapped on the
wrist and asked nicely not to do it again.

Of course prison time for drug offenders should include some form of
treatment. Taking away the threat of prison, however, would be a horrible
mistake. Without the lingering possibility of prison time, there is nothing
to force convicts even into their treatment programs, let alone into a
clean life.

Implementing Issue 1 would also take away the discretion of judges, many of
whom have spent years learning to read drug offenders and their potential
for rehabilitation. Giving any first-or second-time offender a "get out of
jail free," card is an insult to the many law enforcement officers and
judges who have devoted their careers to keeping these criminals off the
streets.

Issue 1 would endanger those who would fall prey to drug pushers who should
be in jail, in addition to denying criminals whose only chance at real
rehabilitation is to be removed from the environment that created their
criminal lifestyle.

Ohio voters should vote down this ridiculous piece of legislative leniency,
and remind lawmakers whose side they are on in the war on drugs.