Speaker 1: My Billy cunning in the Great America. Welcome to this glory.
Speaker 1: It's Thursday afternoon the tri state of bit cloudy, but
Speaker 1: the weather looks perfect for the weekend concert with the
Speaker 1: Voice of America, where I may be introducing Jason Oldeen
Speaker 1: and his big green tractor. I'm not sure it's a
Speaker 1: big green tractor or a little green tractor, but there'll
Speaker 1: be a big tractor there. But until then, of course,
Speaker 1: Reds Baseball kicks off first pitch at six ' ten
Speaker 1: tonight bit early, and we're going to be gin a
Speaker 1: coverage about five to ten as the Reds blue one
Speaker 1: last night big time. Hopefully they'll win today, win the series,
Speaker 1: and move on to Milwaukee. They play good teams better
Speaker 1: than bad teams. But until then, Melissa Powers, of course,
Speaker 1: is the Amley County Prosecutor walking in the shoes of
Speaker 1: Joe Eaters, Artney and Simon Leees and Melissa Powers. Welcome
Speaker 1: again to the Bill Cunningham Show. And Melissa, with your permission,
Speaker 1: I have a few questions to ask about marijuana. Here's
Speaker 1: the first one. Let's say you're a Tony Bender type
Speaker 1: that lives in Green Township and you legally possess a
Speaker 1: handgun because you like to carry one. And right now
Speaker 1: we are kind of an open carry We don't have
Speaker 1: to have a permit anymore, and you have no disability.
Speaker 1: Is it legal for a Tony bender in Green Township
Speaker 1: or a Tony rosyellow to have possession of a legal
Speaker 1: handgun in their pocket or purse or whatever, and then
Speaker 1: they go in to buy marijuana which is now legal.
Speaker 1: And can you walk around the streets, the mean streets
Speaker 1: of Green Township with a gun and possessing legally marijuana.
Speaker 2: With The short answer is yes you can. You must
Speaker 2: be an adult twenty one years or order. You can
Speaker 2: legally possess two point five ounces of marijuana now that's
Speaker 2: our law. And carry a firearm if you're legally allowed
Speaker 2: to possess a firearm. Now you can't be smoking the marijuana,
Speaker 2: but it's packaged in a baggy you and you have
Speaker 2: a fine arm. Yes, you can carry both at the
Speaker 2: same time. You can transport it in a car at
Speaker 2: the same time that you've got to follow the proper
Speaker 2: firearm you know how to transport a firearm in a vehicle.
Speaker 2: But yes you can. You can be in possession of
Speaker 2: both as long as you're two point five or under
Speaker 2: bounces and and you can carry a firearm.
Speaker 1: When I talked to lawmakers Bill Sitz and Huffman and others,
Speaker 1: and the Speaker of the House, when I speak to them,
Speaker 1: they both say there's needs to update the law because
Speaker 1: as a prosecutor, you don't you don't create law or
Speaker 1: make law. You follow the law. And there is some
Speaker 1: dispute as to the level of marijuana you can have
Speaker 1: when you're driving a motor vehicle. There was there was
Speaker 1: a testimony I think I had on Stevens, you Speaker
Speaker 1: of the House, about a week or ten days ago,
Speaker 1: and he talked about using a swab inside your inside
Speaker 1: your cheek to see the level of THC is as
Speaker 1: a frontline prosecutor, is there a clear delineation when you
Speaker 1: operate a motor vehicle as far as what is and
Speaker 1: what is not the proper level of marijuana in your
Speaker 1: system while you're driving a car.
Speaker 2: There is a clear delineation. The law is written that
Speaker 2: you cannot operate a motor vehicle under the ensigns of
Speaker 2: the marijuana metabolite and the prohibited level in your blooder
Speaker 2: urine for blood is five nanograms per marijuana metabolite per
Speaker 2: milli liter of your blood, and for urine it's fifteen
Speaker 2: nanograms per milli leader of your urine. So there is
Speaker 2: they do hant this. There are levels that you cannot
Speaker 2: have in your system while you're operating a motor vehicle.
Speaker 1: That's a great answer. So let's say Tony Bender is
Speaker 1: in Anderson Township driving around. He said, had a couple
Speaker 1: of hits on the joint, and you're talking about blood
Speaker 1: and urine unlike breath. And one may try at the
Speaker 1: scene to have them do finger to nose and all
Speaker 1: those tests, and then maybe an intoxalizer handheld Tony might
Speaker 1: blow into it. But at the present time, as I
Speaker 1: understand it, is there a test using breath the determined
Speaker 1: level of intoxication.
Speaker 2: There is not a test for breath. It's what's in
Speaker 2: your blood, blood or urine at the time you're operating
Speaker 2: the motor vehicle. So that's Those are the tests that
Speaker 2: would be requested of you if you were pulled over
Speaker 2: and suspected of operating a motor vehicle impaired and under
Speaker 2: the influence of marijuana.
Speaker 1: So Tony would have to take it, please please. So
Speaker 1: Tony would have to go to the hospital with the cop.
Speaker 1: How do you get urine or blood at the scene
Speaker 1: of a stop? How do you do that?
Speaker 2: Well, the urine they can take the blood, they would
Speaker 2: have to have a nurse or if any MPT or
Speaker 2: as you said, from the hospital. So there's limited ways
Speaker 2: to get the sample, need it in order to test
Speaker 2: it to see if you're impaired. But it's not as
Speaker 2: easy as breath. You're correct.
Speaker 1: Well, when I talked to lawmakers, you want to develop
Speaker 1: some tests at the scene where you can swab inside
Speaker 1: of the cheek. And I'm thinking, man, how would that work?
Speaker 1: And when you advise police agencies in Hamlety County have
Speaker 1: they have they called recently the last few days about
Speaker 1: what to do in these circumstances of blood urine And
Speaker 1: the person said, no, you know, I had a little
Speaker 1: bit of marijuana. I smoked a little bit. But how
Speaker 1: do you determine if they're under the influence if there
Speaker 1: if you have take blood or urine, that's a little
Speaker 1: bit messy at times, and there is no test for breath,
Speaker 1: and so would it be helpful for frontline prosecutors to
Speaker 1: have the lawmakers in Columbus clean that up? A little bit.
Speaker 2: Well, that's you know, as you as you stated earlier,
Speaker 2: as the prosecutor, I follow the law. I don't create
Speaker 2: the law. Sometimes we weigh in and make suggestions we
Speaker 2: can be in favor or pose. So basically, you know,
Speaker 2: that's up to the state legislatures. And and and they're
Speaker 2: on break I think for until October, so they've had
Speaker 2: a year to sit there and figure this out. But
Speaker 2: they also this is not anything new. I mean, this
Speaker 2: is testing for marijuana, testing for other drugs. As you said,
Speaker 2: I mean, very few officers are trained to be able
Speaker 2: to detect and be they you know, and be able
Speaker 2: to pay. They're specialized officers that actually figure out that
Speaker 2: are trained to recognize the symptoms of drug abuse. And
Speaker 2: they do that through different exercises involving pupils. It's been
Speaker 2: a while since ide been in the courtroom where these
Speaker 2: tests were being done, but they do have sun at
Speaker 2: their disposal. I think they're going to have to do
Speaker 2: more training. I think also what has to be changed is,
Speaker 2: you know, all the canines that were trained to hit
Speaker 2: on a car if they smelled ra all marijuana. I mean,
Speaker 2: there's all kinds of things that don't need to change
Speaker 2: with this now that.
Speaker 1: This is legal and they haven't done it. And I
Speaker 1: like to think when Republicans don't have Democrats to fight with,
Speaker 1: they fight with other Republicans, and Democrats don't have democrats
Speaker 1: to fight with Republicans, they with other Democrats. Like on
Speaker 1: the county Commissioner, they're fighting all the time. So at
Speaker 1: this point, it would be helpful if lawmakers actually got together,
Speaker 1: did their job and not going break until October and
Speaker 1: tell the eighty eight county prosecutors this is what to do,
Speaker 1: this is what not to do. Now, you mentioned about
Speaker 1: smoking marijuana in public. If Tony Bender wants to walk
Speaker 1: around Washington Park on a Sunday afternoon lighting up his weed,
Speaker 1: can he legally walk around the city of Cincinnati with
Speaker 1: marijuana just smoking it?
Speaker 2: Is that legal? No? No, it's not legal. You cannot
Speaker 2: smoke pot on any federal, state, or locally owned land
Speaker 2: in the state of Ohio, so parks, streets, all of
Speaker 2: that is illegal now. But we've got a mayor in
Speaker 2: the city of Cincinnati that doesn't enforce possession of marijuana
Speaker 2: at one hundred grands. There's no enforcement of that law.
Speaker 2: So I guess it's going to depend and hopefully our
Speaker 2: mayor will step up and be able to, you know,
Speaker 2: put this in line. Because Stanley's, for example, I mean
Speaker 2: hot stinks. Yeah, who wants to be walking around and
Speaker 2: smelling it? And say in the public area. Another place
Speaker 2: that it doesn't apply would the restaurants and bars. You
Speaker 2: cannot smoke there because of the no smoking laws that
Speaker 2: were passed with regard to cigarettes. So you can't smoke
Speaker 2: in no smoking areas, you can't smoke in public areas.
Speaker 2: You can't smoke in there, but you can't smoke and
Speaker 2: you cannot smoke in your car. So that's another that's
Speaker 2: also ill legal.
Speaker 1: So let me get this straight. You can't smoke in
Speaker 1: a park, you can't smoke it on state property, you
Speaker 1: can't smoke it on federal property, you can't smoke it
Speaker 1: on city property. You can't smoke it in your car,
Speaker 1: you can't smoke it inside restaurants and bars, and you
Speaker 1: can't smoke it in any facility like I don't know, uh, Dillard's,
Speaker 1: they have signed you can't smoke there. So where can
Speaker 1: you smoke it? At home?
Speaker 2: Right? That's it. It's pretty much at home, your own yard.
Speaker 2: You know that is obvious. Now, somebody that has a
Speaker 2: public let's say what. I'm kind of curious. I think
Speaker 2: in the doorra areas, you know where you're allowed to drink.
Speaker 2: You know that it's legal to drink out on the street.
Speaker 2: I don't think they allow smoking. That's in the smoking
Speaker 2: area too, So you can't smoke there. So you can
Speaker 2: smoke in designated areas, that's permissible, And you can smoke
Speaker 2: in your home, but you cannot smoke or in your
Speaker 2: yard or on your property. But you cannot smoke in
Speaker 2: a car or any public area or any area that's
Speaker 2: been designated for no smoking.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to bring this up to you. I'm
Speaker 1: in Washington Park about a week ago Sunday with the
Speaker 1: People's Judge, Penelope Are along with Sean Donovan, who lives downtown.
Speaker 1: We take a walk from his home on Court Street,
Speaker 1: walk up to OTR walk through Washington Park on a
Speaker 1: Sunday Sunday evening about six thirty and the smell of
Speaker 1: marijuana was everywhere, and there were numerous people sitting on
Speaker 1: park benches smoking like crazy, and uh, just publicly. And
Speaker 1: I'm looking around, I'm smelling it, and I'm looking and
Speaker 1: there's cops walking around and guess what. Nobody's cited, nobody arrested, and.
Speaker 2: That's our mayor. That's our mayor is responsible for that.
Speaker 2: He does not. He has told distance at police department
Speaker 2: that even though it's illegal to possess, you know, you're
Speaker 2: at one hundred grams of marijuana. So the current law
Speaker 2: of recreation is actually less than what is permitted on
Speaker 2: the books, but you and you can't and it's it's
Speaker 2: a minor, mistermeor to smoke in public areas. They're not
Speaker 2: enforcing that law. They've been told not to enforce that law.
Speaker 2: So hopefully, hopefully the public outcry would be is to
Speaker 2: ask our mayor to enforce the law so that we,
Speaker 2: you know, families and people that want to enjoy the
Speaker 2: parks without having to smell that because it does stink.
Speaker 2: You know, people don't like it, and it's illegal to
Speaker 2: enforce the law.
Speaker 1: So I went up to a cop in uniform and
Speaker 1: I said, to this nice officer, I looked at his name,
Speaker 1: but his name's not relevant. I said, let me ask
Speaker 1: you a question, officer. I'm in Washington Park. It's illegal
Speaker 1: to smoke marijuana here, and I see a few dozen
Speaker 1: people smoking pot. I said, why aren't you citing. Somebody
Speaker 1: looked at me and said, I don't want to deal
Speaker 1: with it, and I said, what do you mean. He said, well,
Speaker 1: we're told not to site and not to arrest anyone,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to deal with it. I said, well,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be argumentative, but you took an
Speaker 1: oath to follow the law of the State of Ohio,
Speaker 1: the City of Cincinnati, the US Constitution, and obviously you're
Speaker 1: not doing it. And he said, I just don't want
Speaker 1: to deal with it. I'm thinking, well, that's not good
Speaker 1: when you have law enforcement that would do their job,
Speaker 1: but they're told by Chief Thiji and the city manager
Speaker 1: share along, and they're told by the mayor don't We're
Speaker 1: not gonna We're going to enforce some laws but not
Speaker 1: enforce other laws because of that's just what we're going
Speaker 1: to do. If I'm in Warren County, I don't see
Speaker 1: people walking around smoking pot because in Lebanon you'll be cited.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe it's good or bad, but you don't
Speaker 1: want uh. You don't want mayors or even prosecutors creating law.
Speaker 1: You want them enforcing the law. And it's a breakdown
Speaker 1: of law and order in a small way, but it's
Speaker 1: a it's a serious one.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Now, lastly, we have a big election coming up, and
Speaker 1: if you can take off your prosecutorial hat and put
Speaker 1: on your candidate hat. I've said publicly that the most
Speaker 1: important election outside of the presidency is for county prosecutor.
Speaker 1: Practically every urban area has elected Liberal Democrats to be
Speaker 1: the prosecutor. So we see the results in Chicago, Columbus, Ohio,
Speaker 1: we see in New York City. Can you tell the
Speaker 1: American people, Missy Powers, how important this election is, especially
Speaker 1: suburbanites who want to see laws enforced and I want
Speaker 1: to see criminals prosecutor. How important is this election coming
Speaker 1: November fifth for you and for the people of Hamlet County.
Speaker 2: Well, Bill, you couldn't be more right about how critical
Speaker 2: this election is through the future of Hamilton County. And
Speaker 2: what's on the ballot is public safety, and people need
Speaker 2: to have to really be concerned. The public safety obviously
Speaker 2: affects everybody. You should be feel safe walking down the street,
Speaker 2: going to an FC game, going to the grocery store.
Speaker 2: You should not be afraid that somebody is going to
Speaker 2: hurt you or a family member, and if you are,
Speaker 2: unfortunately the victim of a crime, or someone that you
Speaker 2: love is a victim of a crime, you want justice
Speaker 2: and you want accountability. And what we see across the
Speaker 2: country is that there are prosecutors that are not enforcing
Speaker 2: the law, that are lenient, that are not holding people accountable,
Speaker 2: and the victims rights are being trampled on. This election
Speaker 2: in our county, we're at a crossroads and it's going
Speaker 2: to be what direction do we want the county to go?
Speaker 2: And you cannot be thinking you just vote down ballot
Speaker 2: or it's all about politics, because public safety has nothing
Speaker 2: to do with politics at this point. You're going to want,
Speaker 2: hopefully a prosecutor that has experience and that is law
Speaker 2: in order. I've got over thirty two years of experienced,
Speaker 2: thirty one of them in the courtroom where I was
Speaker 2: a prosecutor. I worked in the office for eight years,
Speaker 2: was a defense attorney, and in private practice for seven years,
Speaker 2: was a judge for sixteen years. My opponent can't say
Speaker 2: any of that. The last time she was in the
Speaker 2: courtroom was in two thousand and five, and she did
Speaker 2: public defense work, so she's never tried a murder case.
Speaker 2: She's never prosecuted a case. And in fact, even last
Speaker 2: year she didn't have a law license. She let that lapse.
Speaker 2: So it's a very very important election. And you know,
Speaker 2: where is she. She's not speaking out when these judges
Speaker 2: are setting low bonds and letting violent criminals to go
Speaker 2: right back into the neighborhood. She's not making any any
Speaker 2: you know, saying making any stand on that. Where is
Speaker 2: she where I'm speaking out against that. I'm trying to
Speaker 2: make sure that we are making judges think about public safety,
Speaker 2: that we are fighting for victims, that we are trying
Speaker 2: to make sure there's accountability, and we are supporting law enforcement.
Speaker 2: So that's the differences. You have a clear choice. If
Speaker 2: you vote down the party line, you're going to pick
Speaker 2: the wrong person. I guarantee you that is not what
Speaker 2: you're going to want. Because most people when they hear
Speaker 2: that somebody wasn't held accountable, somebody was released on I know,
Speaker 2: our bond that was on a violent offense, they like,
Speaker 2: how does this happen? Well, they've been voting down the
Speaker 2: party line. They're not looking at the people. They're not
Speaker 2: looking at who's law in order. Because I think the
Speaker 2: majority of people want to feel safe, and what majority
Speaker 2: of people want accountability and a majority of people we
Speaker 2: know we want law in order. We know what happens
Speaker 2: if it doesn't. Just look into all these cities in
Speaker 2: the neighborhoods that need it the most are the neighborhoods
Speaker 2: that are getting hurt the worst because these violent criminals
Speaker 2: going right back in the same neighborhood and they're hurting
Speaker 2: more people. And we want to put a stop to that.
Speaker 1: Car break ins, murders, robberies, thieveries, way up and in
Speaker 1: the suburbs, they're often the victims of crime. Melissa Powers,
Speaker 1: good luck. We'll see what happens. You gave us a
Speaker 1: lot of good information about marijuana laws and things of
Speaker 1: that character. And the American people should know that your
Speaker 1: opponent did not have a law license last year. I
Speaker 1: mean last year she couldn't spell prosecutor. Now she is one,
Speaker 1: hopefully not. And Melissa Powers, once again, thank you for
Speaker 1: coming on the Bill Cunningham Show. May God bless you
Speaker 1: and God bless America. Melissa, thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Bell God bless you too.
Speaker 1: Let's continue with more if a line becomes available. Five one, three, seven, four, nine, seven, thousand.
Speaker 1: Red Baseball kicks off about five ten. Imagine running a
Speaker 1: big city prosecutor office with about one hundred and fifty employees,
Speaker 1: and last year you couldn't prosecute because you didn't have
Speaker 1: a law license. Not good, Let's continue. Bill Cunningham, News
Speaker 1: Radio seven hundred WLW