The House has approved a bill to make it a crime to distribute a controlled substance near a child care facility.
Representative Sharon Pace (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
It was offered by Representative Sharon Pace (D-Sharon Pace).
“We all know that we need to protect our children and this bill does just that.”
Representative Penny Hubbard (D-St. Louis) says the idea is overdue.
“We already have state statute that protects our school-aged children from drug dealers selling drugs. It’s unfortunate that we don’t already have into statute our daycare centers to be protected.”
The proposal, HB 285, would make the crime a Class “A” felony, which carries a penalty of between 10 and 30 years or life in prison. It specifies that a defendant found by a court to be a persistent drug offender would serve his or her term without probation or parole.
The bill has been sent to the Senate.
