Voters spoke on SQ 780, lawmakers should listen

An appeal to protect children is generally a sure winner in the Legislature, thus it wasn’t a surprise to see a House committee give overwhelming approval to the “Keep Oklahoma Children Safe from Illegal Drugs Act of 2017.” Yet this bill merits closer scrutiny from the full House.

House Bill 1482, approved 11-1 in committee last week, is an effort to right what its backers say voters got wrong in November when they approved State Question 780 and State Question 781. SQ 780 reclassifies simple drug possession and property crimes of under $1,000 as misdemeanors instead of felonies, with a goal of reducing the number of people who go to prison in Oklahoma each year. SQ 781 would direct any savings toward diversion programs.

There are many in the legal community who doubt the initiatives will work as intended, and they fear the change in the law will further burden already crowded county jails. These concerns may prove to be valid. However, we’ll only know that if the change is allowed to occur. Voters clearly wanted this reform — SQ 780 received 58 percent support in November.

But backers of HB 1482 have said voters didn’t really know what they were approving. Their solution is to make drug distribution or drug possession potential felonies if they occur within 1,000 feet of “a day care, public or private elementary or secondary school, public vocational school, public or private college or university, or other institution of higher education, church, recreation center or public park, including state parks, fairgrounds and recreation areas, or in the presence of any child under twelve (12) years of age.”

Former House Speaker Kris Steele, the leading advocate for passage of SQ 780 and 781, argues that the broad language could essentially make drug possession a felony almost anywhere in Oklahoma.

Under HB 1482, a first offense would carry punishment of up to five years in prison or a $5,000 fine, or both. It seeks to increase prison time for a second or subsequent offense to up to 10 years in prison or a $10,000 fine, or both, with the offender having to serve 90 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for credits that can shave time off the sentence.

Steele makes the point that drug distribution and manufacturing remain felonies under SQ 780, regardless of where that distribution or manufacturing occurs. Lawmakers should remember that as they read a news release this week from Rep. Tim Downing, R-Purcell, in which a school superintendent claims that without HB 1482, “drug dealers could set up shop and openly recruit our most vulnerable, our children.”

Steele argues that making simple possession a potential felony would only continue the practice of using punishment instead of treatment to address substance abuse problems. And, he worries about the detrimental effects a felony charge or conviction can have on a young person, such as a high school student.

Downing, co-author of HB 1482, says proponents of the state questions worked to mislead voters with the language that was on the ballot. Does this mean Steele, who has two daughters in middle school, and other backers are OK with drugs at schools? Of course not.

Lawmakers need to cut through the rhetoric and defer to the will of the people on this issue.