Circle game.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Data; drug offences - Brief article

Ostensibly aimed at protecting children, "drug-free zones" typically boost prison sentences for drug offenses that involve only adults. The zones trigger enhanced penalties for drug dealing or possession within a certain radius (usually between 500 and 1,500 feet) of locations such as schools, parks, and day care centers.

Depending on the distance specified, the kinds of locations included, and the density of the city, the zones can include more than they leave out. In New Haven, Connecticut, for example, the only substantial piece of land not covered by a drug-free zone is the Yale University golf course.

As a result of this overinclusiveness, notes a March report from the Justice Policy Institute, the zones have become an excuse for harsher...