SIGNS TOUTING ISSUE 1 MAKE DEBUT IN TOLEDO

Billboards heralding State Issue 1 are up in Toledo, the first of seven
cities where an image of a young man behind prison bars with the message
"treatment, not jail, for nonviolent drug users" will attempt to sway voters.

As of yesterday, six yellow-and-black billboards were on view in Toledo,
with two more to follow, said Brian Usher, a spokesman for the pro-Issue 1
group, the Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies.

The campaign will feature 44 billboards, including 12 in Cleveland, and 10
each in Columbus and Cincinnati. Billboards also will be used in Dayton,
Youngstown, and Akron.

Issue 1 would amend Ohio's Constitution to make treatment an option for any
nonviolent first and second-time drug offenders. Drug traffickers, violent
offenders, or those operating a motor vehicle under the influence of
alcohol or drugs would not be eligible.

Also yesterday, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Cleveland Democrat and
former Cuyahoga County prosecutor, endorsed Issue 1.

"I am frustrated that the legislature has failed to allocate money for
treatment for those in need of treatment," she said in a statement.
"Therefore, I have chosen to support this ballot initiative. I feel
strongly that this is the only method by which these citizens will be able
to receive treatment on demand."

But Asa Hutchinson, administrator of the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration, said Issue 1 backers are spreading myths that U.S.
anti-drug efforts are not working and that Ohio prisons are jammed with
nonviolent offenders convicted of possessing small amounts of drugs.

"It's just not the case. If you're a possessor of a small amount of drugs
or a user, you have to work pretty doggone hard to get to prison. The
prisons are filled with traffickers and violent offenders that we ought to
be targeting," he said at a law-enforcement conference.