NORWAY – Police will designate areas in town where kids frequently hang out as drug-free safe zones, which could increase the penalties of being caught there with illegal drugs.
Schools and schoolyards are already posted as drug-free zones.
Several months ago, the state Legislature passed a bill allowing towns to also post athletic fields, playgrounds and parks – the places children are likely to be.
“Just the fact that the public has been made aware of the enhanced penalties has been a deterrent,” Chief Rob Federico said Friday about drug-free zones.
Federico said that he’ll hang up the signs, but they’ll serve merely as warnings until townspeople approve of them. Residents will vote on the signs and additional penalties at the next town meeting.
The law calls for harsher punishment associated with the possession and trafficking of drugs in drug-free zones. For instance, being found with marijuana is a civil offense, but this charge could be upgraded to a crime, Federico said, if it occurred in a drug-free zone.
Safe zones include the actual school, park or ball field and all area within 1,000 feet of these spots.
In Norway, police will post the signs at the ballpark and ice rink on Cottage Street, as well as the field behind the town garage on Grove Street. They will also post the town beach and park.
The chief said if skateboarders continue to use the parking lot behind Fare Share, signs could be posted there, too.
Comments are no longer available on this story