GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2007

SESSION LAW 2007-375

SENATE BILL 8

AN ACT to increase the "safe zones" near child care centers and school grounds regarding illegal drug sales from three hundred feet to one thousand feet, AND to expand the "safe zone" for public parks to include all public parks, not just those with playgrounds, and to increase the distance of those safe zones to one thousand feet.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 90-95(e) reads as rewritten:

"(e)      The prescribed punishment and degree of any offense under this Article shall be subject to the following conditions, but the punishment for an offense may be increased only by the maximum authorized under any one of the applicable conditions:

...

(8)       Any person 21 years of age or older who commits an offense under G.S. 90-95(a)(1) on property used for a child care center, or for an elementary or secondary school or within 3001,000 feet of the boundary of real property used for a child care center, or for an elementary or secondary school shall be punished as a Class E felon. For purposes of this subdivision, the transfer of less than five grams of marijuana for no remuneration shall not constitute a delivery in violation of G.S. 90-95(a)(1). For purposes of this subdivision, a child care center is as defined in G.S. 110-86(3)a., and that is licensed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

(9)       Any person who violates G.S. 90-95(a)(3) on the premises of a penal institution or local confinement facility shall be guilty of a Class H felony.

(10)     Any person 21 years of age or older who commits an offense under G.S. 90-95(a)(1) on property that is a playground in a public park or within 3001,000 feet of the boundary of real property that is a playground in a public park shall be punished as a Class E felon. For purposes of this subdivision, the transfer of less than five grams of marijuana for no remuneration shall not constitute a delivery in violation of G.S. 90-95(a)(1). For purposes of this subdivision the term "playground" means any outdoor facility (including any parking lot appurtenant thereto) intended for recreation open to the public, and with any portion thereof containing three or more separate apparatuses intended for the recreation of children including, but not limited to, sliding boards, swingsets, and teeterboards."

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2007, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 2^nd day of August, 2007.

                                                                    s/ Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/ Joe Hackney

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/ Michael F. Easley

                                                                         Governor

Approved 6:12 p.m. this 19^th day of August, 2007