Senate bill seeks drug sentencing reform

As Ohio continues to grapple with the opioid epidemic, state lawmakers are proposing sentencing reforms for those struggling with addiction disorders. “What we are trying to accomplish is to ‘arrest’ the problem and get Ohioans who are struggling with addiction help before their offenses could mean jail time,” Sen. John Eklund, R-Munson Township said. “We want people to get better and move on to lead productive lives, while also ensuring that traffickers are arrested and stay behind bars.” His co-sponsor for Substitute Senate Bill 3, Bazetta Democrat Sean O’Brien added, “This is an attempt to recognize that and to deal with that crisis in the best way we can. We know we can’t arrest our way out of it.” According to Eklund’s office, the proposed bill would make possession of small amounts of drugs an unclassified misdemeanor charge with a presumption of treatment, but subject to a maximum one-year jail sentence (fifth-degree felony) if the court deems the offender a threat to others. Eklund said in a press conference announcing the bill that everyone who has had a hand in this legislative process seems to agree that there are people who the criminal justice system, as it currently functions, is “ill-suited to offer them the opportunity at redemption, the opportunity at a normal life.” Fentanyl would be excluded from reclassification. The powerful synthetic opioid contributed to nearly 71 percent of Ohio’s 2017 overdose deaths. Sexual assault-enabling drugs would also be excluded from reclassification. Eklund said that the bill would also eliminate prosecution for trace amounts of a drug. “That was something that we heard from a lot of people, that nobody wants to be prosecuting people for trace amounts of drugs anymore anyway,” he said. Judges would have the ability to halt prosecution against first-time possession offenders if that person agrees to enter into a judge-prescribed treatment program. If successfully treated, the judge can dismiss the case altogether and no conviction is put on the offender’s record. The bill also seeks to reform sealing procedures, in an effort to “remove the ‘scarlet letter’ of prior possession convictions so that a recovering offender faces fewer obstacles to finding gainful employment and housing as the individual works toward an addiction-free life.” According to Eklund’s office, the legislation would permit misdemeanor and fifth- and fourth-degree felony drug possessions to be sealed upon successful completion of drug court or intervention in lieu of conviction programs. The bill puts drug trafficking into three tiers. The tier of an offense would depend on the amount of drugs being trafficked, Eklund said. If the prosecution proves a person had intent to sell or distribute any amount of heroin, the offender could face trafficking charges and convictions. The bill also maintains mandatory prison sentencing for high-level trafficking offenses according to Eklund’s office. The bill does not retroactively change sentences for those convicted of crimes that would have more lenient punishments under the new proposed law. O’Brien said the logistics of doing so are “daunting.” Eklund said it is not completely off the table, however.