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Ordinance Sued

Attorney general files law suit against Sensible Toledo

Joe Heibenescher, Features Editor

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The Ohio attorney general and Lucas County commission filed a lawsuit against the Sensible Toledo Ordinance on Oct. 6, one day after it took effect.

The citizens’ initiative known as the Sensible Toledo Ordinance passed a city ballot vote in September with a 70 percent majority. According to the Lucas County Board of Elections, only 9.35 percent of registered voters cast a ballot.

According to a press release, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said the lawsuit challenges the local ordinance because it conflicts with current state laws.

“This ordinance encourages drug cartels to set up marijuana distribution operations in Toledo with less fear of prison or penalties,” DeWine said in the press release. “It is not hard to imagine international drug rings making Toledo their regional base of operations.”

However, according to Sean Nestor, campaign manager for Sensible Toledo, the ordinance does not legalize the drug, it only relaxes penalties for minor misdemeanor offenders. He said the goal of Sensible Toledo is to decriminalize marijuana use in non-violent cases.

In Ohio, any possession of marijuana up to 200 grams is a misdemeanor that could result in a fine of as much as $250 and a maximum of 30 days in jail.

According to Nestor, under the Sensible Toledo Ordinance, all misdemeanor offenses are reduced to fifth-degree misdemeanor charges. Nestor said the ordinance removes jail time and fines for all marijuana-related misdemeanors from the Toledo Municipal Code.

The ordinance also includes a gag rule that removes the obligation for Toledo Police to report marijuana misdemeanors to the state-level authorities.

The lawsuit specifies that it challenges a “gag rule” prohibiting law enforcement agencies from reporting marijuana crimes to anyone other than the city law director, provisions which make felony marijuana possession and trafficking a “negligible municipal offense,” and provisions which decriminalize possession of lower-priority, federally-forbidden drugs.

Under state and federal law, marijuana possession and trafficking is still illegal, which means a Toledo offender can still be prosecuted by authorities under those laws.

“It gets a little fuzzy” when it comes to enforcement, Nestor said. “You can pass a law, but the enforcement of that law is a whole different matter, and we knew that from the get-go.”

According to Nestor, enforcement is ultimately is up to the discretion of the mayor, the chief of police and individual officers.

Toledo law enforcement has “home rule” authority, which means methods of enforcing minor misdemeanor offenses are up to Toledo’s police departments, instead of being dictated by the state or federal laws.

According to the lawsuit from DeWine, the home rule authority would apply if Sensible Toledo only relaxed penalties of minor misdemeanor offenses. He said the ordinance also negates penalties for felonies, which is more than simply changing enforcement policy — it’s ignoring state and federal law.

When announcing the lawsuit, DeWine cited a recent example of 226 pounds of marijuana confiscated by the Ohio Highway Patrol.

“If they had been charged under the new Toledo ordinance,” DeWine said, “neither would serve prison time nor pay a fine for such a crime.”

According to Nestor, the ordinance has positive effects on the criminal justice system and related racial disparities.

“There is a great deal for Toledoans to be proud,” he said. “We are leading the state in this. Literally, marijuana advocates all over the state have been looking towards Toledo. They’ve been inspired and motivated by what we have done in Toledo.”

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Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919.
Ordinance Sued