Drug-Free Zones Laws Questioned

None by KCPW

Utah Prison Chiefs Say "No"

(KCPW News) Utah's so-called "drug free zones" appear to be sending offenders to prison for inordinate amounts of time. That's according to state corrections officials who are asking the Legislature to re-evaluate penalty enhancements that elevate a drug offense if committed within one-thousand feet of school, park, church, shopping mall or child-care facility.

Lucianno Colonna of the Harm Reduction Project argues the laws waste money on imprisonment of low-level drug dealers and addicts rather than rehabilitating them. An offense that would otherwise be a second-degree felony with a sentence of one to 15 years in prison becomes a first degree felony with a potential of life in prison if committed in a drug-free zone. Given the state's shortage of prison beds, Colonna says it's an inefficient way to handle drug problems. Both the Utah Sentencing Commission and the State Board of Pardons and Parole have asked state lawmakers to take another look at penalty enhancements for drug-free zones.

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