Drug-free school zone

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Drug-free school zone is a term used in the United States to denote an area within a certain distance, most commonly 1,000 feet, of the nearest school, park, or other public area. Signs to this effect are generally posted along all public streets at the entrances to such an area. Weapons, tobacco and alcohol are also prohibited in these areas as well as any DEA schedule 1 or 2 substances[1].

The term is somewhat misleading, in that the sale or even possession of recreational drugs is uniformly illegal throughout the United States; what does make the signs arguably relevant, however, is that the laws in most American states now call for increased criminal penalties for drug sales (and, in some of these states, possession of drugs in sufficient quantity as to suggest an intent to distribute on the part of the person possessing said drugs) that occur within the designated zone. Other prohibited activities include gang involvement and carrying weapons. The first laws of this kind were passed in the late 1980s.

However, within these drug-free school zones there are often increased enforcement efforts, with a subsequent increase in arrests. The punishments for these laws are often draconian, imposing very long prison terms for people who possess trivial amounts of illegal drugs--with the subsequent disenfranchisement that is a result of a felony conviction.