Ohio
"Treatment
Not
Jail"
Initiative
Organizers
Accuse
Governor,
Other
State
Officials
of
Improper
Lobbying
12/21/01
Top officials in the administration of Ohio Republican Governor Robert Taft are involved in a behind-the-scenes effort to block a proposed constitutional amendment that would send convicted drug users to treatment instead of prison and may be violating state law in the process, according to the Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies (http://www.drugreform.org/ohio/). OCNDP, which is spearheading the initiative effort, has charged that state officials are unlawfully using state employees and state facilities at taxpayer expense in their battle to forestall any changes in Ohio drug laws. "State officials have plotted to block our initiative, to keep it off the ballot, and failing that, to scare and confuse voters into opposing it," said Edward Orlett, head of Ohio CNDP, an affiliate of the Santa Monica-based Campaign for New Drug Policies, which ran the successful Prop. 36 campaign in California in 2000. "There is a pattern beginning to emerge that could very well be criminal," Orlett told DRCNet. "Under Ohio law and the state constitution, public officials may not under color of law use their office or their employees to deprive or attempt to deprive Ohio citizens of their constitutional rights. The right to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot is one of those rights," he said. Now, OCNDP has formally requested that State Auditor James Petro investigate whether two cabinet members have misused public resources, employees and funds in planning a campaign against the proposed ballot initiative. "The scope of these agencies' planning and strategizing to thwart our ballot initiative was extraordinary," said Orlett. "It cannot be legal and proper for so many staff hours and resources to be poured into preparations for an expected campaign effort. If this level of campaign activity by executive agencies is permitted, it will set a terrible precedent for all future campaigns for candidates and ballot measures in Ohio." Orlett has obtained documents that back up his assertion and has made copies available to DRCNet. One is a 21-page "Ohio Drug Reform Playbook" created by employees of the state Office of Criminal Justice Services. The playbook is an outline of how to defeat the proposed initiative, an effort to be led by a coalition with the Orwellian double-speak-style name of "Ohio Drug Reform Coalition." Prominent among the "reformers" are the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association, the Ohio Crime Prevention Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, and last on the list, "local treatment and prevention practitioners." The playbook calls for initiative opponents to craft an "Ohio Drug Reform Resolution," which would "[reflect] local level opposition to the legalization of drugs." It also calls for coalition partners to consider other steps to block or ameliorate the impact of the proposed treatment initiative, such as attempting to force revisions in the initiative, creating an alternative initiative "to reduce CNDP initiative impact," offering watered-down reforms in the legislature, and a blockade "to stop the CNDP initiative from appearing on the ballot." Coalition members also planned a marketing campaign to indirectly target the initiative. The playbook called for state agencies to develop a marketing strategy that would promote drug courts and "Ohio's promising drug treatment practices." The playbook also provided evidence that the conspiracy to block "treatment not jail" initiatives may extend to other states targeted by CNDP, specifically Florida and Michigan. Other evidence suggests it also extends to Washington, DC. "Organize Tri-State Drug Policy Forum," reads the playbook. "Discuss common goals and objectives for multi-state drug reform [sic] campaign, including funding considerations. Implement Tri-State Drug Policy Collaboration." The playbook listed the governor's office, the Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) and the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) as primary resources for organizing the anti-initiative campaign in its early stages. Orlett and OCNDP have asked state auditors to investigate Domingo Herraiz, head of OCJS, and Luceille Fleming, head of ODADAS. "Herraiz used the employees and resources of his office over a two-month period to develop this playbook on how to defeat or block the initiative," said Orlett. "And Fleming has gone to Washington to attend meetings on how to block the initiative. We also have copies of official correspondence from her on state letterhead to the governor's office and others regarding "Fighting the Ballot Initiative." "This is the gang that couldn't shoot straight," said CNDP's Dave Fratello. "The rules of politics preclude government officials from using their offices to play a direct role in campaigns like this, but these guys never even thought to get competent legal advice on what they could and couldn't do," he told DRCNet. "What arrogance. Because Republican control of Ohio is so solid, they thought they could get away with it." Ohio officials deny they have done anything wrong. A spokesman for Gov. Taft defended the governor's actions to the Columbus Dispatch last week, saying that the governor was adamantly opposed to the initiative. "He's spoken with experts and drug court officials and will oppose it," said spokesman Joe Andrews. "He thinks it's a de facto decriminalization of drugs. He's concerned about bringing the failed California drug experiment to Ohio." "What failed drug experiment in California?" retorted CNDP's Fratello. "There is no data yet on Prop. 36, it's very early. You can't call Prop. 36 a failure with no data. That's just wishful thinking," he said. After being held up at the Ohio Attorney General's Office for ten weeks while the Attorney General deliberated over whether the initiative's summary is a fair and truthful statement, the initiative is now only one step away from the beginning of petitioning. The initiative is now waiting for the Franklin County Board of Elections to certify the 100 signatures required to begin the petition drive. Once that happens, backers will begin the task of obtaining the 335,422 signatures required to put the issue on the November 2002 ballot. The initiative would mandate treatment instead of jail for first-time nonviolent drug possessors, but would not apply to those convicted of drug trafficking or manufacture. Treatment programs could last up to 18 months, and those who fail to complete them could be sent to prison.
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