No on Issue 1: Deliberate major reforms

Ohio needs more treatment for drug addicts and fewer people in prison, but a complicated and questionable appendage to the state constitution isn’t the right way to get there. For that reason, we urge Ohioans to vote No on Issue 1.

At the same time, we implore state lawmakers and the next governor to take up these problems with open minds and find better ways to achieve those results.

A good place to start would be the proposal offered up by Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, a Republican, and Columbus’ Democratic city attorney, Zach Klein. The two opposed each other in a hard-fought campaign for O’Brien’s job just two years ago, and the fact that they teamed up to offer an alternative to Issue 1 speaks well of both.

It also illustrates that the problems involved are serious and that good public servants want to find solutions.

Most people likely agree with the stated goals of Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment put forth by a coalition of criminal-justice-reform groups including the Ohio Justice & Policy Center and a national group called the Alliance for Safety and Justice. The idea is to shrink the prison population through sentencing reform and use the resulting savings to provide more treatment for Ohio’s exploding population of addicts.

Keeping low-level offenders out of prison wouldn’t save only money. It would salvage lives by sparing recovering addicts from the lifelong consequences of a felony conviction.

The problem with Issue 1 is that it attempts to turn around decades of criminaljustice policy in one fell swoop by tweaking a few key levers. As is often the case with such an approach, it likely wouldn’t work as intended and could cause significant problems.

It would convert all fourth- and fifth-degree drug-possession felonies to misdemeanor offenses, meaning those convicted couldn’t be sentenced to prison. Indeed, addiction shouldn’t be a crime and addicts should be in