PITTSFIELD, Maine — Committing a drug offense on public property just became a more serious crime, according to a new local ordinance that took effect Thursday.
Pittsfield town councilors enacted the ordinance under a state law that allows municipalities to designate as “safe zones” certain public areas where children frequent.
Anyone caught trafficking, furnishing or cultivating illegal drugs within 1,000 feet of a safe zone is subject to being charged with an aggravated crime and receiving a longer sentence, according to Assistant Attorney General William Savage, the state’s drug prosecution coordinator.
“It could more than double a sentence,” Savage said. “One of the primary goals is to identify that this stuff is happening in school zones and near kids and to discourage it in any way that we can. It’s also a valuable deterrent to put people on notice [about handling drugs around kids].”
An aggravating factor automatically elevates a charge one level and also might trigger Maine’s minimum sentencing law, which requires a four-year prison term for certain offenses. A Class B charge, for example, carries a possible sentence of 0-10 years while an aggravated Class B charge warrants 4-10 years, said Savage.
Efforts Thursday to determine how many other Maine communities had designated safe zones were unsuccessful.
Pittsfield’s new safe zones include Fendler Park, Hathorn Park, Manson Park, Pinnacle Park, Remembrance Park, Stein Park, Veterans’ Park, and the snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle trail that follows the Maine Central Railroad tracks through town. The town’s public school complexes already were covered by a state law that elevates drug offenses that occur in or near school zones.
Because of the abundance of public spaces and the 1,000-foot zone around them that’s also affected, the new ordinance covers much of inner Pittsfield, said Town Councilor Donna Chale, who along with fellow Councilor Christopher Carr hatched the idea in the town’s ordinance committee.
“This seems like such an easy thing to do to increase protection for our town,” said Chale. “It’s no secret in this day and age that most crimes are drug-related.”
Town Manager Kathryn Ruth said there has been no resistance to the idea, which the Town Council passed unanimously Sept. 1 after a positive public hearing on the issue.
“Everyone we’ve talked to thinks this is a great idea,” said Ruth.
The Maine Civil Liberties Union is one group that doesn’t agree. Zachary Heiden, the group’s legal director, said a conviction for a drug crime can disrupt a person’s life in serious ways, including making the person ineligible for federal student aid.
“Murderers and rapists will be eligible for financial aid, but marijuana offenders cannot get aid,” said Heiden. “Drug addiction is a serious health problem that should be dealt with in the public health system, not the criminal justice system. These punitive penalties just don’t work.”
Ruth said the town is exploring funding sources for the installation of notification signs around the affected areas, which Savage said will be key to ensuring the aggravated charges hold up in court.
