LARGER DRUG-FREE ZONES IN DANGER AS DEADLINE LOOMS

As the state legislature barrels ahead to the session's closure at
midnight tomorrow, chances for passage of a bill to punish drug
dealers in some of Annapolis' most vulnerable neighborhoods don't look good.

The bill would expand "drug-free zones," the 1,000-foot buffer around
schools where criminal penalties are doubled, to day-care facilities,
recreation centers and bus stops. Most affected neighbors and local
elected officials, as well as the Annapolis Police Department,
State's Attorney's Office and Board of Education, support the measure.

But the House bill is trapped in the Senate Judicial Proceedings
Committee, where the chairman wonders what good it would serve.

"At some point, you have to ask yourself, 'Should we just increase
the penalties for drug dealing (everywhere)?' " Sen. Brian Frosh,
D-Montgomery, said after a hearing Thursday.

He stopped short of saying the bill would be held with no final vote,
but he didn't enthusiastically support it either.

"Never say never," he smiled.

A similar Senate bill also hasn't been voted on in the committee, a
sign that it won't ever get a vote.

Paula Howard, who lives near the Obery Court and College Creek
Terrace public housing communities, said she won't believe the bill
is dead until 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

"Clay Street is one of the biggest open-air drug markets in the city,
and has been for years," she said. "Time and time again we read in
the police reports 'with intent, with intent,' meaning 'intent to
distribute.' "

The bill would help combat drugs and violence, she said, by making
the Stanton Center and the Clay Street Learning Center in that
neighborhood drug-free zones.

"This particular bill affects the areas where there are predominantly
children," she said. "This is for community and recreation centers.
If we can protect our children in any way, we need to be able to do that."

Del. Herb McMillan, who co-sponsored the House bill with Del.
Virginia Clagett, D-West River, said there have been 260 arrests in
the past three years for selling drugs in or near the city's 1,100
public housing units.

"That's one pusher for every five homes," the Annapolis Republican
said. "That's intolerable."

While he said he recognizes that there's no perfect solution to the
drug problem, his bill would at least do something. It was amended to
only apply on the second offense instead of establishing mandatory
minimum jail terms for the first offense.

"This bill has widespread support from the neighborhood through the
City Council and County Council level, because I think we all agree
it does little to expose our children to a wonderful education and
all the beautiful things the world has to offer, and go home to a
neighborhood under siege by drug dealers," he said.