Message from the Director
Having taught at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law for more than a quarter century, I am quite full of Buckeye pride. But a special mixture of pride and gratefulness comprises my feelings as we mark five years since the founding of the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center. I am so very grateful for the support of the university, the college and all my colleagues in helping to start and sustain the center, and I will be forever grateful for the financial support from the Charles Koch Foundation and the Menard Family which enabled this center to go from a modest idea to a robust reality. And my pride is even more capacious as I reflect on all the work of the center and its dedicated staff, all that we have done and achieved, in just our first half-decade. DEPC has helped educate hundreds of students, has produced and supported cutting-edge criminal justice and drug policy research, and has served the local, state and national community in myriad ways. This report only provides a small window into DEPC’s activities, in part because it is simply not possible to capture fully the richness and dynamic nature of the center’s work on so many fronts over the past five years. But while not readily summarized, I know full well that our first years of experiences and accomplishments ultimately serve as a kind of preface for what I hope will be many more years of contributions from DEPC.
Drug Enforcement and Policy Center Timeline
Research
Over the last five years, the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center has conducted, supported, and shared academic and practical research at the intersection of criminal justice reform and drug policy. The center publishes original research reports and studies, proposals for legislative change as well as interactive data and policy analysis resource pages. In addition to our own research, the center awards research grants, collaborates on externally funded research projects, and supports research by faculty members in The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and John Glenn College of Public Affairs. We also regularly solicit original research and conduct workshops in conjunction with our symposia, conferences and other events.
Visitors can explore all of DEPC's work on the center’s primary focus areas of marijuana reform, clemency and record relief, drug sentencing and other drugs.
Events
To date, DEPC has hosted a wide variety of events and programming in support of its educational, community outreach, and public engagement goals. Events focused on a spectrum of topics across the drug policy and criminal justice reform space with some of our most-attended events centering on Ohio marijuana reform and record relief. With the switch to online and hybrid events, the center was able to extend its collaborations with academic centers, government actors, legal practitioners, public policy advocates, and other experts across the nation and increase registrations. Most events are recorded and shared on YouTube where they regularly receive hundreds of additional views.
Service Projects
DEPC aims to bridge the gap between academic research and policy realities by collaborating with academics, government leaders and other stakeholders to engage with and examine issues of interest and concern at the intersection of criminal justice and drug policy and enforcement.
The center is home to two service engagement projects focused on Ohio. The Ohio Governor's Expedited Pardon Project, a collaboration with Governor DeWine, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and the Reentry Clinic at the University of Akron School of Law, aims to expedite the process by which people petition for a formal pardon from the Governor under Ohio’s laws. The project provides free legal support for pardon applicants that meet certain criteria and can show that they have been rehabilitated and have contributed positively to their communities. Opportunity Port, a collaboration with the Columbus City Council, is an online portal that connects those with criminal records in Franklin County, Ohio and Tuscarawas County, Ohio with the free legal help they need to complete and file a record sealing application. A statewide expansion of Opportunity Port services is planned for fall 2023.
In addition to these projects, DEPC engages in numerous other research and service partnerships. The center has partnered with the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission to offer expertise on criminal sentencing and to assist with data analysis and report generation regarding the Ohio Sentencing Data Platform. DEPC supports a project led by RTI International, in partnership with the Clean Slate Initiative, focused on classifying and evaluating the efficacy of various expungement schemes throughout the U.S.
Education
One of the center’s core goals is to train and educate the next generation of law and policy leaders. To that end, DEPC faculty teach courses on a range of related topics including the business law aspect of marijuana reforms, the legal history of drug control in the United States, federal and state clemency decision-making, opioids and the law, criminal justice policy, marijuana law and more. The center also tracks marijuana law courses taught at accredited law schools.
Year five also saw the launch of the Drugs on the Docket podcast. The series explores how U.S. court rulings impact drug law and policy and continue to shape the War on Drugs. In addition to serving to educate the public on these issues, we hope the six episodes of season 1 will serve educators in law and public policy schools looking for engaging, multimedia content to employ in their courses.
In addition to generating research internally, DEPC solicits research papers from students in all areas of drug law and policy and related criminal justice issues. Given the new and relatively unexamined area of cannabis law, the student papers often offer first takes on important issues of growing interest. Accepted student papers are uploaded and made available for download on SSRN. These student papers have already generated thousands of downloads.
Finally, DEPC directly supports students through employment, facilitated internships, and by providing fellowships that partially support students' participation in the D.C. Summer Program.
People of DEPC
The DEPC team consists of administrative and research staff, interdisciplinary faculty, attorneys and distinguished visiting practitioners. Together, the people of DEPC serve as an educational resource for academia, students, government professionals and the public who seek reliable and objective information on the intersecting fields of drug policy and criminal justice. Center faculty and staff have expertise in a range of fields and are often asked by media to provide expert opinions and commentary. Media outlets have sought out our faculty and staff on issues ranging from marijuana reform and the opioid epidemic to criminal justice reform and sentencing policies.