toledoblade.com --

As Ohio voters prepare to go to the polls next Tuesday to decide the fate of state Issue 1, a measure that would make more lenient the drug laws affecting first and second-time offenders, likely voters believe treatment programs are more effective than imprisonment in dealing with those with drug habits, a new poll shows.

The survey, commissioned by The Blade and WTVG-TV Channel 13 and conducted by Zogby International of Utica, N.Y., showed that 46 percent of respondents favored treatment, while 26 percent said those with drug habits are best dealt with in jail. The rest were undecided or favored another alternative.

The poll of 602 likely voters in Ohio, conducted Thursday through Saturday, carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

On the core question of Issue 1 - sending early offenders into treatment programs instead of to jail - 48 percent said they favored the idea of a state constitutional amendment to accomplish that goal, while 44 percent said they were opposed.

The measure would "provide for persons charged with or convicted of illegal possession or use of a drug, in certain circumstances, to choose treatment instead of incarceration, to require the state to spend $247 million over seven fiscal years to pay for the drug treatment programs, to allow the applicable records of offenders who complete treatment instead of incarceration for illegal drug use and possession to be sealed and kept confidential for most purposes, and to limit the maximum sentence to 90 days incarceration that eligible first-time, second-time, and certain repeat illegal drug possession or use offenders could serve," according to ballot language approved by the state.

Those for and against the measure argue over the financial impact the amendment will have on voters, and on state government, if it passes.

James Ruvolo, a political strategist hired by those opposing the measure, said other polls show more people will vote against the measure because of the cost.

"This amendment is not needed. It is expensive, it duplicates what already exists, and it simply gives drug-users a constitutional right, ahead of any other person who needs addiction services, the right to move to the front of the line," said Mr. Ruvolo of Ottawa Hills.

"The average person receiving treatment ends up in more than one program, and their costs are much higher than the proponents are stating," he said.

Ed Orlett, Ohio state director of the Campaign for New Drug Policies, said Ohio will save $21 million a year if Issue 1 passes because sending people to drug-treatment programs is less expensive than sending them to jail.

"That cost [of treatment] is paid for out of the savings from sending fewer people to jail," Mr. Orlett said.

If passed, the amendment calls for the state to set aside into a $247 million "substance-abuse treatment fund" - $19 million the first year and $228 million over the next six years.

"It's a close race, which I expected, and I see nothing that is going to change that," he said. "We are explaining the cost thing and giving people more reasons for voting for Issue 1."

"The majority of people are clearly saying that what we are doing now is not working. People may not be totally sold on treatment right now because there is so little of it, but once we begin, once we get the resources through Issue 1 to expand treatment programs into areas of the state that do not have them, more and more people are going to find that treatment works," Mr. Orlett said.

Pollster John Zogby said the issue is more complicated than a typical measure and that "the merits of the referendum will stand on its own. But this is a good indication of how people feel on the issue."

And, he said, it appears as if Ohioans are "at least open to thinking about a new approach" to dealing with those caught with controlled substances. He said it is part of a nationwide trend.

Predictably, younger respondents favored treatment over jail for first and second-time offenders. Among those under age 30, 57 percent favored diversion programs, while 21 percent said jail would be most effective.

Those over age 65 were split on the question, with 35 percent favoring treatment and 34 percent favoring jail. Fourteen percent said neither treatment nor jail is appropriate, and 17 percent were undecided.

White respondents, by a 43 percent to 28 percent margin, said they favored treatment, while 78 percent of blacks favored treatment. Just 10 percent of blacks favored jail over treatment. Another 12 percent were undecided.

The campaign messages of Issue 1 proponents - that the amendment will save taxpayers money because treatment is cheaper than imprisonment and that it would save the reputations of first or second-time users who get caught - resonated with the young and with women, the poll showed. Sixty percent of those under age 30 said they closely identified with the message, while just 35 percent of those age 65 and older agreed.

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