The Battle to Educate the Public about the Real Consequences of Drug-Free School Zones Goes On

Date:  04-29-2014 Critics of the zones say enhanced penalties are already on the books for selling drugs to children, and that in some cases virtually whole cities are drug-free school zones

The CT News Junkie reports that on April 25 the legislators on Connecticut’s Education Committee voted 11-17 against a bill that would have decreased the size of drug-free zones surrounding schools from 1,500 feet to 200 feet. Senator Gary Winfield-Holder vowed to the reintroduce the bill in 2015, and plans to continue to educate other legislators about the true consequences of drug-free school zones. Winfield-Holder reminded the lawmakers that enhanced penalties are already in place for selling drugs to children and that in big cities virtually every block is a drug-free school zone, and that comes with serious and unjust consequences, particularly for people of color. Using data provided by the Prison Policy Initiative, Think Progress provides a disturbing look in its article What Happens When an Entire City Becomes a Drug-Free School Zone.