Bill: Raise cocaine penalties

The bill had been offered in past years by a former Youngstown lawmaker.

By MARC KOVAC

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBUS — The state Senate unanimously passed legislation that would eliminate legal distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, effectively increasing penalties for the possession and use of the latter.

Senate Bill 73, sponsored by Sen. Ray Miller, a Democrat from Columbus, passed on a unanimous vote of 32-0 Tuesday and now heads to the Ohio House for further consideration.

Miller said the legislation has been offered numerous times in recent years, including several attempts by former state Rep. Sylvester Patton of Youngstown, a Democrat.

“There is nothing that has caused more death, violence and destruction within the African-American community than the sale, manufacturing and use of crack cocaine,” Miller said, pointing to the “disappointment, wasted lives, immorality, family division, homicide and prison bars” resulting from its use.

Crack cocaine is made through the processing — generally boiling with another substance — of powder cocaine.

The penalties for possessing or selling the former are more harsh than the latter, Miller said.

For example, the penalty for trafficking less than 5 grams of powder cocaine is equal to that for selling less than 1 gram of crack.

The disparity is affecting poorer Ohioans and minorities, who often have less access to treatment and who are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system than individuals using powder cocaine, Miller said.

“Cocaine is addictive, deadly and contributes to violent crimes,” Miller continued. “People who use any type of cocaine need to be in prison or in treatment. ...To address the cocaine abuse in this state, we must raise and equalize the penalties for all types of cocaine abuse.”

Miller’s legislation increases penalties for the trafficking and possession of powder cocaine to those in place for crack cocaine.

Only one lawmaker voiced any concern about the bill from the floor. Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who favored the impetus behind the legislation and who voted for it, said analyses forecast increased incarceration costs of $25 million or more per year as a result of the proposed law.

He said he hoped the House would take that into consideration during its deliberations.

“That’s real money,” he said. “That’s what happens when we equalize penalties at the higher rate.”