ISSUE 1 IS DANGEROUS FOR THE CITIZENS OF MORROW COUNTY
Under Issue 1, a person could possess up to 19 grams of fentanyl without going to prison. That much fentanyl could kill 10,000 people.
ISSUE 1 TAKES AWAY THE COURT’S ABILITY TO KEEP PEOPLE WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE ISSUES TO STAY IN TREATMENT
The current criminal justice system is designed to use the threat of prison as leverage in order to get people suffering with a substance abuse disorder to opt for treatment.
If you take away the threat that an addict may have to face some jail or prison time, you just can’t get them to go to treatment.
ADVERTISING ON ISSUE 1 IS MISLEADING
Issue 1 is going to benefit drug dealers and drug traffickers. If approved it would make drugs easier to possess and would be a disaster to the drug rehabilitation community. We don’t generally send low-level felons to prison anyway.
But we do need the threat of a felony charge to hold over their heads to force those who most need drug treatment to participate in the court-ordered programming.
THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ALREADY HAS A SPECIALIZED DRUG DOCKET TO HELP TREAT AND REHABILITATE SUBSTANCE ABUSERS
We are already helping addicts. Non-violent, low-level drug addicts are already being treated, and Issue 1 is completely counter-productive to what we’re trying to do. It undermines the treatment that is now being given.
VOTE NO ON ISSUE 1
We urge all those who read this letter to “spread the word that Issue 1 is a very, very bad idea.”
Respectfully,
Tom C. Elkin, Judge of Morrow County Court of Common Pleas
Robert C. Hickson, Jr. Judge of Morrow County Court of Common Pleas
