82% of legislators mum on making marijuana legal

March 29, 2015 at 12:09a.m.

By Matt Hawout

TheNewsOutlet.org

YOUNGSTOWN

Most people have opinions about legalizing marijuana — unless they just happen to be state legislators.

Ask Ohioans, and there is a response. For example, in a 2014 poll, Quinnipiac University asked 1,379 registered voters if they supported legalizing marijuana. An overwhelming 87 percent said yes to legalization for medical use and 51 percent said yes to recreational use.

However, ask 132 state lawmakers in Ohio similar questions and no response is most likely.

Only 24 members — or 18 percent of the state Legislature — were willing to respond at all about an issue that has been in the news for months as a proposal on marijuana legalization winds its way to the statewide ballot.

Not any member of the House delegation from Mahoning and Trumbull counties — state Reps. Ron Gerberry, Michele Lepore- Hagan, Sean O’Brien and Michael O’Brien — responded. State Sens. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, and Capri Cafaro of Hubbard, D-32nd, did respond.

Schiavoni said, “At this point, without having any details of a bill, I would be hesitant to vote for a bill that would legalize marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes. If it were solely for medicinal purposes, I would be inclined to vote for the bill.”

Cafaro is more firm in her opposition. “I am not in favor of legalization because it is not approved by the FDA.”

She added that she’s seen many complications arise from trying to make the substance safe for consumers. She also fears the use of marijuana could spread to the workplace, where it would not only be a hindrance to people’s productivity, but would also be a danger for workers’ safety.

Lack of cooperation

The News Outlet’s Columbus Exchange: Politics in Question series has found public officials to be uncooperative. The first effort a year ago experimented with emailed questions, only to find that spam filters rejected The News Outlet effort.

Last fall, questions about charter schools were delivered to all 77 candidates in Northeast Ohio. Fifty-one did not respond. One lawmaker said on the record that she did not want to be contacted again.

This time, sitting lawmakers were asked: “If a proposal came to you to legalize the use of marijuana by adults for recreational and medicinal use, how would you vote and what reasons would define your position?”

The subject is timely since four citizen groups are pushing for voter initiatives, with the possibility of two making it on the November ballot. Also, there is a proposed bill in the House legalizing medical usage for seizures.

While the responses by party seem evenly split — 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats — that doesn’t mean the response rate was equal because there are far more Republicans in office than Democrats.

When broken down by percentages, The News Outlet found 20.6 percent of Democrats in the House responded versus 10.8 percent of Republicans. In the Senate, 50 percent of Democrats responded versus 21.7 percent of Republicans.

Avoiding controversy

The lack of participation doesn’t surprise William C. Binning, professor and chairman emeritus of the political science department at Youngstown State University.

“They don’t want to get involved in it. This is not a winner. There are people that are for this and against this. That’s why they’re avoiding you, right? Can’t blame them for that,” said Binning.

This same silence plagues Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan website that describes itself as, “The voter’s self-defense system.” Cryshanna A. Jackson Leftwich, associate professor in YSU’s Department of Politics and International Relations, is a board member.

“We send out Political Courage Surveys to all the candidates in all the states, and we don’t get a high response rate. And, Project Vote Smart tries to be a non-partisan organization,” said Leftwich.

The survey topics include abortion, gun rights, economy, health care and more.

Gov. John Kasich, who is being touted as a potential presidential candidate, did not fill out a survey.

“It’s hard to get candidates to answer questions, which makes it very hard as a democracy — because nobody is being upfront and nobody is willing to just say, ‘This is how I feel about an issue,’” Leftwich said.

Lawmakers should answer

While the silence from legislators might be understandable, that doesn’t excuse them from not answering the question. At least one Republican senator, Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, thinks so.

Seitz discussed the issue with Hagit Limor, a News Outlet adviser at The University of Cincinnati and an investigative reporter for WXIX-TV Cincinnati. The interview was for a story on Sunshine Week that specifically looked at this Columbus Exchange project and the unwillingness of elected officials to express an opinion.

“I think it’s an important part of the job. In my experience many of the senators and reps don’t even read the emails that come into the office. I think that’s a mistake,” said Seitz. “I think elected officials owe the public an answer to a question, ‘Do you support this or do you support that?’”

Attorney General Mike DeWine agrees. He told Limor, “There’s this relationship that exists between elected officials and the public, and it’s important for elected officials, I think, to be very open.”

TheNewsOutlet.org is a collaborative effort among the Youngstown State University journalism program, The University of Akron, The University of Cincinnati, Cuyahoga Community College and professional media outlets including, WYSU-FM Radio and The Vindicator (Youngstown), The Beacon Journal and Rubber City Radio (Akron).