Pubdate: Sat, 26 Sep 2015 Source: Star Beacon, The (Ashtabula, OH) Copyright: 2015 The Star Beacon Contact: http://www.starbeacon.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4021 Author: Justin Dennis COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT: 'NO' ON ISSUE 3 JEFFERSON - Law enforcement officials from across the county joined in solidarity Friday against Issue 3, the state's marijuana legalization initiative, which will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. "Ashtabula County, like the rest of Ohio and the United States, is in the midst of a drug epidemic," county Prosecutor Nick Iarocci said from the steps of the old county courthouse in Jefferson, surrounded by officers from every police department in the county. "It is unimaginable that Ohio is considering legalizing marijuana, the 'gateway' drug to heroin and other opiates and narcotics, in the midst of the opiate epidemic that is causing death and agony to families of every social and economic class," he said. Issue 3 would allow doctors to prescribe pot, as well as personal recreational use - and the ability to grow up to four flowering plants at once - for anyone 21 and older. If it passes, Ohio would be the fifth U.S. state to legalize, and the first to flip a complete ban of the substance, though punishments already were lessened in the late 1970s. But Iarocci and other law enforcement officials said Issue 3 would only generate more drug offenses overall while doing little, if anything, to hamper pot on the black market. Iarocci said Friday the "gateway drug" can be directly linked to violent crime through later hard drug use. "I represent every case to the (Ashtabula County) grand jury," he told the Star Beacon following his statement. "When I see heroin, I see marijuana. When I see cocaine, I see marijuana. In every report, they find marijuana with these harder drugs ... it truly is a 'gateway' drug." Lt. Jeff Orr with the Trumbull-Ashtabula Group, a dedicated drug task force, said marijuana is most likely the first drug to be introduced in a peer group. And Ohio's lax pot penalties further the impression that marijuana is culturally accepted. "And because the punishment is not there, kids are going to use it more than they are any other drug," he said. In Ohio, possession of up to 3.5 ounces of weed, or just less than one-quarter pound, is a minor misdemeanor and carries a $150 fine. Possessing 7 ounces is a fourth-degree misdemeanor, with a $250 fine and a maximum 30 days of jail time, but imprisonment in misdemeanor cases is highly unlikely. TAG Detective Greg Leonhard said often, even fifth-degree felony heroin offenders don't go to jail. Friday's presentation used many post-2013 pot statistics from Colorado, which legalized that year. As of May, Colorado has collected more than $88 million in pot tax revenues this year, according to the revenue department. Though 55 percent of tax revenue from Ohio's potentially budding industry would go back into public safety forces - as it does in Colorado, along with public schools - Iarocci said he interprets that increase to mean the state expects more crime. County Sheriff William Johnson agrees. "If they think there's not going to be problems, I think it's going to escalate problems, myself," he said, adding if casual use would never lead to abuse or irrational decision-making, it would be a different story. "But that's not what's going to happen." Colorado traffic fatalities decreased by 14.8 percent overall from 2007 to 2012, however during the same timeframe, 100 percent more crash-causing drivers tested positive for marijuana, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. While alcohol leads to a million more arrests each year than all other drugs combined, according to the FBI, NHTSA reported in 2010 - before major legislative shifts in pot attitudes - that marijuana was the most prevalent illegal drug detected in impaired drivers, fatally injured drivers or other car crash victims. Johnson said driving under the influence is the same charge whether a driver is drunk or high, and a field sobriety test can yield the same telltale signs like slurred speech or bloodshot eyes. Even if Issue 3 passes, he said his department's job won't change - "We never lose 'business.'" Though pot proponents have touted legalization as a way to hamper Mexican drug cartels, Orr said the black market for pot won't be going anywhere - it might even shift its focus toward those who aren't old enough to legally buy weed at a retail establishment. Almost 40 percent of marijuana sold in Colorado last year, or 53 tons, was through the black market, according to the state's Department of Local Affairs, which also estimated nearly half a million residents use it at least once a month. And illegally purchased weed in Colorado has been much cheaper, Orr said. "It's just ... economics," he said. "They're able to lower that price. If somebody has the ability to (undercut), it's the cartels." Iarocci said Ohio, a long-standing political bellwether state, is a prime target for pro-pot groups. "If they pass it in Ohio, they know the rest of the country is just a matter of time," he said - also questioning the manner and timing of the current effort. "The proponents are attempting to amend the Ohio Constitution to make it a constitutional right to use marijuana," Iarocci said during his statement. "Persons would have constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and to use marijuana - seriously?" More than $20 million from private investors has been thrown at Issue 3 advertising, but with only 10 initial growing licenses - all of which have been scooped up by those same investors - Iarocci said "a few people are going to get very rich." "Big money is behind this because they see the profit - they see dollar signs," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom