The following article was posted as submitted by Judge Sean Leuthold, Crawford County Common Pleas judge.

Last November, Issue 1 was placed on the ballot as a constitutional amendment. If approved, Issue 1 would have, for all intents and purposes, legalized the possession of drugs. Issue 1 would have handicapped law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary. It was a poorly conceived idea which would have increased crime and drug usage throughout the State of Ohio.

Fortunately, Ohio citizens overwhelmingly rejected the ideas contained in Issue 1. In Crawford County, voters made their wishes clear by defeating Issue 1 by a margin of 80% to 20%. Clearly, common sense prevailed and a disaster was averted.

Unfortunately, a new disaster is at our doorstep. Despite the fact that the will of the voters was made clear last November, our state legislature has decided that the concepts contained in Issue 1 need to be put into effect through legislation. The Ohio State Senate is attempting to pass Senate Bill 3. At this point, the bill has yet to become law. However, the following lists some of the ideas that are currently being proposed:

  1. The possession of drugs will no longer be considered a felony. Instead, possession will be a misdemeanor thereby making the defendant no longer prison eligible. Instead they would have to be housed in the county jail. This includes the possession of heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine, LSD and possibly fentanyl.
  2. Possessing trace amounts of drugs would be decriminalized. Under Senate Bill 3, possessing less than .025 grams of a particular drug is completely legal.
  3. Senate Bill 3 would make it much more difficult to convict criminals of trafficking drugs in a school zone. Presently, prosecutors do not have to prove the offender knew that he was in a school zone when he sold drugs. Senate Bill 3 now requires some element of knowledge or recklessness.

Over the last few years our community has made great strides in dealing with the drug epidemic that has overwhelmed Ohio. According to recent statistics, overall crime in Crawford County has been reduced by approximately 50%. Major felonies have been reduced by an even greater amount. Simply put, our community is a safer place to live.

Eliminating prison for drug possession will undermine our county’s progress. A prison sentence is a greater deterrent than serving time in the local jail. It also serves to remove a drug offender

from our community. Often that is what the offender needs to take the first step towards rehabilitation.

County jail will not serve that purpose. The offender will remain around many of the same people who enabled or encouraged his/her criminal behavior. Also, any jail sentence would be much shorter than a prison sentence. Our county jail currently has the capacity to hold 120 inmates. Forcing our jail to house drug offenders for their entire sentence would result in severe overcrowding. The only way to alleviate this condition would be to shorten the drug offender’s sentence.

Legalizing trace amounts of drugs, as well as making it harder to convict traffickers in school zones makes no sense. The reason these provisions are being considered is that it would make it harder to obtain criminal convictions, thereby reducing the prison population and saving money for the State of Ohio. However, there would be no benefit for the people of Crawford County.

At this point, Senate Bill 3 has not been voted on by our legislators. Please contact our State Senator, Dave Burke, and our State Representative, Riordan McClain, at their phone numbers and addresses listed below. Tell them that the voters of Ohio have already spoken once when they rejected Issue 1. Please let them know that Senate Bill 3 is simply an attempt to ignore their voices, and that Senate Bill 3 is wrong for Ohio and Crawford County.

Hon. Sean E. Leuthold, Judge
Crawford County Court of Common Pleas

 

State Senator Dave Burke                 State Representative Riordan McClain
Senate Building                                  House District 87
1 Capitol Square                                77 South High Street
Ground Floor                                     13th Floor
Columbus OH 43215                         Columbus OH 43215
Ph; (614) 466-8049                          Ph: (614) 644-6265