700,000 OHIOANS SIGN PETITIONS BACKING PLAN FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

Supporters of a constitutional amendment that would require treatment
instead of jail time for first and second-time drug offenders said they
turned in 700,000 signatures yesterday to get the measure before state voters.

Diane Firlik, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Secretary of State, confirmed
signatures were turned in, but said she did not know how many.

The Ohio chapter of the Campaign for New Drug Policies needs 335,442 valid
signatures to get the item on the ballot. Lucas County election officials
have been investigating problems with some of the petitions and many of the
signatures could be ruled invalid.

Rob Stewart, national campaign manager for New Drug Policies, said his
organization is cooperating with election officials in their investigation.
He said because his group turned in more than 700,000 signatures, there
should be more than enough signatures. He said at least 65 percent will
meet state requirements.

Ms. Firlik said it will take three to four weeks for the state to certify
the signatures.

Mr. Stewart and other local supporters of the ballot initiative held a news
conference in Toledo yesterday.

"Treatment costs less than cycling someone in and out of the criminal
justice system," Mr. Stewart said.

Mansour Bey, a minister at First Church of God in Toledo, said too many
drug offenders are spending time in jail instead of getting help.

"America, the land of the free, has become the land of the imprisoned," he
said. "There's not so much a war on drugs as a war on those addicted to drugs."

Gov. Bob Taft, Toledo Mayor Jack Ford, and local drug-treatment and
law-enforcement officials have criticized the amendment proposal, saying it
is a veiled attempt to legalize drugs.

The opponents have said judges need the "stick" of jail time to convince
drug offenders to shape up. Mr. Ford has said the amendment would increase
crime if passed, something supporters such as Mr. Stewart and Mr. Bey deny.

First Lady Hope Taft also has criticized the amendment proposal because she
said it is being pushed by rich, out-of-state interests. Voters in
California and Arizona have approved similar measures bankrolled by
billionaire financier George Soros; Peter Lewis, chairman of Progressive
Insurance of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, and John Sperling, who founded the
University of Phoenix.