This opinion piece appeared in The Columbus Dispatch. 

As coronavirus cases continue to rise, so do cases of domestic abuse, depression, drug addiction and accidental overdose — collateral consequences of the disease that might be more hidden but no less deadly than the virus itself. In the General Assembly’s post-election lame duck session, it has an opportunity to address some of these lurking dangers. It should take it.

Senate Bill 3, for example, would comprehensively reform Ohio’s drug sentencing law so that those battling drug addiction receive treatment rather than just a conviction. The pending legislation balances the community’s need for public safety and the individual’s need for effective treatment by maintaining Ohio’s harsh criminal sanctions for predatory drug traffickers while recognizing that nonviolent drug users searching for sobriety present more of a public health concern than a criminal menace.    

For too long, Ohio has relied mistakenly on the criminal corrections system to house and care for those struggling with drug addiction — spending on average $26,000 per inmate, per year. The state imposes overly broad criminal sanctions that prove far less effective at curbing drug abuse and low-level drug crime recidivism than facilitating targeted treatment programs clinically designed to rehabilitate drug users and nonviolent offenders.

Senate Bill 3 corrects that mistake. By reclassifying low-level drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, the overdue statutory reform saves the state money, puts more people on a smoother path to recovery and removes a significant barrier to long-term drug rehabilitation. Felony convictions carry hundreds of collateral consequences that persist well after the defendant has served time — chief among them: a much harder time finding employment.

Without gainful employment, those struggling with addiction battle depression and poverty that can make the hard climb to sobriety so much slipperier. Without a job, recovering addicts return too easily to the dangerous “escape” of narcotics and overdose.

As Dr. Mark Hurst, the former Ohio Department of Health medical director, once explained, long-term change for those struggling with addiction “requires counseling, requires medication frequently, and it requires rebuilding the life…. Employment is a really important part of recovery and rebuilding somebody’s life. And a felony conviction is a major barrier to that.”

Senate Bill 3 removes this unnecessary barrier for low-level drug possession offenses and creates the legal presumption that first-time offenders be sentenced to treatment programs, not incarceration. But the bill recognizes that first-time offenders and recalcitrant repeat offenders are not the same. Anyone convicted of a third possession offense in a three-year period would be convicted of a felony and face all of the incumbent consequences.

Some skeptics contend that judges must retain the threat of imposing felony convictions on even low-level possession offenders in order to encourage participation in drug treatment programs. But according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a prison sentence has little, if any, deterrent effect on future drug use by nonviolent drug offenders.

Senate Bill 3 acknowledges this fact. Its common-sense reform would align Ohio’s drug sentencing law with national best practices and criminal justice research. Taking an evidence-based approach, the legislation rightly distinguishes between those struggling with addiction and those preying upon the community. It ensures that Ohio law better reflects the complex nature of addiction by providing treatment for users and punishment for traffickers. 

As the pain and suffering brought on by the coronavirus continue to plague Ohio communities, the General Assembly can take immediate steps to improve the law and help those struggling with drug addiction get the treatment they need and achieve long-term success. And those are always steps worth taking.

Andrew Geisler is a legal fellow at The Buckeye Institute and an expert in criminal justice reform. He is the author of “Senate Bill 3: Myth vs. Reality.”