Pubdate: Fri, 01 May 2015
Source: Dayton Daily News (OH)
Copyright: 2015 Dayton Daily News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/7JXk4H3l
Website: http://www.daytondailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/120
Author: Jim Otte

DEBATE FLARES OVER POT ISSUE

Legalization Backers: Police Can Focus More on Serious Crime. but 
Sheriff Says Plan Won't Curb Violence.

Supporters of a controversial plan to legalize marijuana in Ohio say 
one of the benefits to the public is that law enforcement could focus 
more on serious crime.

But Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer scoffs at the notion of 
marijuana legalization as a crime-fighting tool.

"You will still have a black market and that is where most of our 
violence comes from," said Plummer, arguing that the proposed 
constitutional amendment would do nothing to stop the smuggling and 
sale of unregulated and non-taxed marijuana. "The home invasions, the 
drug robberies, the rip-offs, the homicides - the majority of them 
are related to the drug trade."

A proposal that appears to be headed to the statewide ballot in 
November would make it legal for a select number of companies to 
cultivate, process and sell marijuana in Ohio. It also permits people 
to grow up to four marijuana plants for their own use.

Rob Ryan, president of the Ohio Chapter of the National Organization 
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said pot laws, much like the 
1920s-era prohibition of alcohol, have not worked. He said legalizing 
marijuana would not only derive tax revenue for the state but also 
benefit law enforcement.

"The real cost savings and cost effectiveness will be police will be 
able to focus on real crimes," Ryan said. "The rates for murders and 
rapes and robberies is dismal, but the rates for convictions on 
marijuana offense is extraordinarily high."

' ... Regulate it?'

Successful campaigns in other states used the same argument, taking a 
pragmatic tone in television advertising. One ad from the campaign in 
Washington state showed a 30-something woman identified as "Kate 
Pippinger, Washington Mom." She said that while she does not like 
marijuana personally, it had become a multimillion-dollar industry 
from which the state did not benefit.

Looking into the camera, she asks viewers, "What if we regulate it? 
Have background checks for retailers, stiff penalties for selling to 
minors. We could tax it to fund schools and health care. Free up 
police to go after violent crime instead."

Ian James, executive director of Responsible Ohio, the group 
collecting petition signatures to place the marijuana issue on the 
statewide ballot, said passage would help not only police agencies, 
but also taxpayers. So far much of the campaign has focused on what 
the group calls "reform" rather than anything approaching a dramatic 
change of the state constitution.

In a written statement, James said "We need immediate reform. Ohio 
wastes $120 million per year to enforce its failed marijuana prohibition."

Plummer isn't buying into the campaign. He pointed to what he 
considers a troubling aspect of how marijuana is sold in states that 
have legalized pot.

Since it remains illegal under federal law, banks refuse to do 
business with state-sanctioned retailers, which means no credit cards 
are accepted. That has made these cash-only retail shops and others 
targets for criminals, according to Plummer.

In one case, thieves killed a man in the Seattle area at the home of 
a marijuana dispensary owner during a break-in.

OVI on the rise

Law enforcement officials also worry about how legalizing marijuana 
would affect traffic safety.

"It will cause more problems for us. Our biggest concern is OVIs 
(Operating a Vehicle while Impaired) and accidents," Plummer said. 
"So now we are going to have people out there drinking and driving 
and also smoking marijuana and driving. We already have a drug 
problem in our community and our state. This will compound our drug problems."

Legalizing marijuana in Colorado has had a negative impact on highway 
safety, according to a report from the multi-state drug enforcement 
group Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Its study 
found traffic fatalities involving drivers testing positive for 
marijuana increased by 100 percent.

Thomas Gorman, the president of the Ohio Chapter of the National 
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. group's executive 
director, said claims that legalizing marijuana would help police are 
"bogus." Since Colorado legalized pot, Gorman said the state has 
become the black market for the rest of the nation. Denver has more 
medical marijuana dispensaries than pharmacies, he said, and 
statewide there are more recreational marijuana stores than 
McDonald's restaurants.

Gorman urged Ohio voters to watch what happens in Colorado over the 
next few years before making the plunge into legalization.

"Give Colorado another couple of years," he said. "Use it as an 
experiment and then make a decision based on facts and figures from 
data, because all you are going to get is a bunch of rhetoric."

Felony cases few

Marijuana cases in Dayton currently do not appear to be clogging the 
courts system. Records from the Dayton Municipal Court show from 
20122014 there were 3,841 minor misdemeanor cases, most of which were 
either dismissed or ended in a plea deal or a fine. Only 11 felony 
cases involving marijuana were recorded in the Municipal Court during 
that period. There were no OVI cases for marijuana use.

Municipal Judge Daniel Gehres said he has been on the bench in Dayton 
since 1988. While he has had thousands of marijuana cases go through 
his court, not a single one went to trial, he said. Either the 
defendant pleaded guilty or the charge was dropped in conjunction 
with a plea deal involving other charges.

Gehres said he believes the prohibition of alcohol was a failure and 
that society gets more compliance with treatment and education than punishment.

"We do still have amongst us people who have the disease of 
alcoholism," he said. "So I think the money is better spent with 
those who have the disease and trying to get them to live a sober 
life and be productive than we ever did with Eliot Ness driving 
around Chicago shooting it up with Al Capone and busting kegs of beer open."

Although Gehres said he is not taking sides in the debate, he thinks 
he knows which side will eventually prevail.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom