Pubdate: Thu, 20 Dec 2001
Source: Dayton Daily News (OH)
Copyright: 2001 Dayton Daily News
Contact:  http://www.activedayton.com/partners/ddn/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/120
Author: Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Associated Press

TAFT AGAINST BALLOT ISSUE ON DRUG TREATMENT

Governor Says Plan Would Undermine Current Program

COLUMBUS - A proposed ballot issue that would send first- and second- time 
offenders of drug possession laws to treatment instead of jail would 
undermine Ohio's drug treatment programs, Gov. Bob Taft said Wednesday.

The Campaign for New Drug Policies is pushing to place the issue on the 
November 2002 ballot. The campaign, backed by three billionaires, has 
successfully persuaded voters in California and four other states to soften 
drug laws.

Taft said judges and drug treatment professionals in Ohio are concerned the 
proposal would undermine Ohio's drug treatment program.

Ohio's program is based on ''a tough love, carrot-and-stick approach, with 
a lot of involvement from the judge and motivational factors for 
participating in treatment based on the threat of incarceration, and a lot 
of that would be totally undermined and weakened by this proposal,'' Taft said.

The campaign's proponents have accused Taft of misusing public resources 
and employees by plotting ways to defeat the ballot issue.

Taft said his office has an obligation to become informed about the issue.

With their vote on Proposition 36 last November, Californians approved 
using marijuana for medical purposes, and Oregon and Utah restricted 
government seizures of drug offenders' property.

Billionaires John Sperling - founder of the University of Phoenix, New York 
philanthropist George Soros and Ohio insurance executive Peter Lewis have 
spent millions the past four years backing ballot initiatives they say 
collectively amount to a referendum on the drug war. Their successes 
include other medical marijuana laws in Alaska, Arizona, California, Maine, 
Oregon and Washington.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart