More Students Report Drug Use in High School

October 05, 2012

A study found 86 percent of high school students claim their classmates are drinking, smoking and using drugs in and around their school, according to a story in the Christian Science Monitor.

The survey, authored by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASAColumbia), has followed teen drug, alcohol and tobacco use for 17 years, and the rate had remained relatively stable at 60 percent for the last half-dozen years, but this year showed a significant increase.

The survey does not indicate any reason for the increase, but Joseph Califano Jr., the founder of CASAColumbia indicated that there is great cause for concern and we "should not inflict this world on our kids..."

Drug Free School Zones

One response to these issues from state legislatures has been the creation of the Drug Free School Zones Act (DFSZA). Many of these laws were enacted in the 1990s as part of the "War on Drugs" that began with the Nixon Administration in the 1970s.

The premise was that enhanced penalties for selling drugs in and around schools would deter drug use among young people. The DFSZs typically stretch for a 1000' in every direction surrounding the school.

The laws do not appear to have appreciably reduced drug usage, but they have become a powerful tool for prosecutors when handling drug crimes. Because they carry enhanced penalties, they can be used to negotiate plea agreements with defendants who don't want to risk being charged with a violation of DFSZs and receive a much longer sentence.

Penalties for Violating a Drug Free School Zone

The Tennessee DFSZ law carries severe penalties for anyone convicted of its provisions. Fines under the act start at $10,000 for a class E felony and progress to $100,000 for a Class A felony.

Sentencing under the DFSZ also has a worse outcome for a conviction, as they must serve their full minimum sentence, with no consideration for sentence reduction credits and no chance for parole prior to serving the minimum sentence.

A graduate thesis by a student at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville analyzed the sentencing under the DFSZA and found one surprising aspect of the Act. Though enacted in 1995, there were few charges made under the act until recently.

Google Maps and Prosecutors?

Apparently, before the advent of digital mapping software, prosecutors and police investigators had to measure laboriously each drug arrest to a school location. Because the law uses "as the crow flies" distance measurements, if there were many buildings between a school and a drug arrest, it could be difficult to measure the distance.

With the easy availability of digital mapping systems, it has become much easier for prosecutors to demonstrate an arrest occurred within the statutory distance.

These laws have been challenged on constitutional grounds in Tennessee and around the nation. In Tennessee, the law has been found constitutional. However, some of the problems caused by the law is that has a disproportionate impact on African-American defendants.

One reason is that in urban areas the 1000' areas surrounding a school may encompass many other building beyond the school, where there are no children present. This makes it much larger pool of potential defendants than in less densely populated areas.

Because these charges are often used as a negotiating tool by prosecutors, if you have been charged under the DFSZA, you should speak with a knowledgeable attorney, as sentencing laws are complex and you need to understand all of your potential defenses before accepting a plea bargain.

Article provided by Brent Horst, Attorney at Law & Associates
Visit us at www.brenthorstlaw.com