The Dark Side of Drug-Free Zones the Government Doesn’t Want You to Know
Public opinion polls are clear: A large majority of the United States wants the war on drugs to begin winding down.
But a new investigation by digital marketing and storytelling agency Fractl, released exclusively to Mic, shows just what a difficult task that might be thanks to deeply engrained punitive measures regarding drugs. Over the past few decades, the report shows, “drug-free zones,” originally intended to nail dealers selling drugs to schoolchildren with harsher sentences, have taken over entire cities.
In at least 11 U.S. cities with a population of at least 50,000, Fractl found “drug-free” zones covered 75% or more of the city limits. Nationwide, they found 40 cities or more had at least 50% of the city limits designated drug-free.
The result? The disproportionately poor, urban residents of those areas can be arrested and slammed with much harsher sentences than would normally be applied — whether or not there was any intent to sell drugs to children.
In some places, the laws even apply in the defendants’ own homes.
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