ISSUE 1 HAS POTENTIAL TO SAVE MONEY

The opposition of Gov. Bob Taft and the Ohio Judicial Conference to the
proposed State Issue 1 is awash in rhetoric but divorced from facts.

A survey of 100 judges on their discretionary sentencing preferences does
not invalidate the 3,416 jail sentences issued out of 5,930 drug-related
convictions in 2000. Plea-bargaining may reduce this number, but such legal
maneuvering would be unnecessary if judges truly espoused treatment over
jail time.

Treatment should be mandatory and jail time optional, not the other way
around. Almost 3 percent of the U.S. population is incarcerated. Prisons
keep people off the streets but are not a cure-all for society's ills.

Nonviolent drug offenders and violent criminals deserve to be treated
differently. Addicts of alcohol and tobacco, two widely abused yet legal
drugs, are not criminalized; rather, one's actions must violate specific
laws, such as driving while intoxicated.

In terms of cost, treatment (about $3,500 per person per year) is less
expensive than incarceration (about $22,000 per person per year). This
means only 1,700 people a year need to be diverted to treatment instead of
jail to absorb the cost of the program. Given that Ohio has averaged around
6,000 drug convictions a year since 1999 with a 57 percent rate of
incarceration, Issue 1 has potential to save millions.

Taft, on the other hand, has cut drug-treatment budgets. If the current
state prison population of 44,000 increases by 3,000 to 4,000 inmates a
year from drug convictions, an additional $66 million or greater needs to
be budgeted annually.

The administration also has failed to review the results of similar
programs in other states. Drug-treatment programs in Arizona had more than
60 percent compliance, saving the state $6.7 million for costs associated
with first- and second-time offenders.

In California, one year after adoption, the state prison population of
nonviolent drug offenders decreased 20 percent. Although the number of
violent criminals in jail increased during the same period, the overall
prison population was reduced, freeing up cells for more dangerous inmates.

Despite efforts to attribute sponsorship of Issue 1 to a handful of wealthy
special interests, 435,000 registered voters, myself included, felt
strongly enough about Issue 1 to petition for its inclusion on November's
ballot. If our elected officials are too shortsighted to see the value of
treatment, then it is up to Ohio voters to set the direction for them.

More information concerning Issue 1 is at the Web sites of the Campaign for
New Drug Policies:

www.drugreform.org

or Ohio Drug Treatment Initiative:

www.ohiodrugreform.org

Rick Hurley

Columbus