SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- The Greater Springfield NAACP is speaking out against a city council resolution pushing for stricter drug laws.

That resolution came September 15th in a unanimous vote by city councilors. They’re asking the state legislature to heighten mandatory penalties near schools and playgrounds.

In order to be violating current law, drug activity must be within 300 feet of a school zone and 100 feet of a playground.

Now, Springfield City Council wants the minimum distance to be 500 feet for both schools and playgrounds.

The resolution also calls for the law to be applicable regardless of time of day or the background circumstances of the crime.

While condemning the resolution on Tuesday, President of the Greater Springfield Branch of the NAACP, Bishop Talbert Swan, said he’s urging the city council to reconsider their proposal.

The bishop summarized his reasoning in a statement reading in part, “The NAACP is deeply concerned that these proposals would reverse critical criminal justice reforms enacted in Massachusetts in 2012 and would disproportionately harm Black and Brown residents of Springfield.”

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