2025 Georgia Codes – Page 211

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to use any communication facility in
committing or in causing or facilitating the commission of any act or acts constituting a felony under this
chapter. Each separate use of a communication facility shall be a separate offense under this Code section.
For purposes of this Code section, the term “communication facility” means any and all public and private
instrumentalities used or useful in the transmission of writing, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds of all kinds
and includes mail, telephone, wire, radio, computer or computer network, and all other means of communi-
cation.
(b) Any person who violates subsection (a) of this Code section shall be punished by a fine of not more than
$30,000.00 or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than four years, or both.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess with intent to distribute
a controlled substance or marijuana in, on, or within 1,000 feet of any real property owned by or leased to
any public or private elementary school, secondary school, or school board used for elementary or secondary
education.
(b) Any person who violates or conspires to violate subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a
felony and upon conviction shall receive the following punishment:
(1) Upon a first conviction, imprisonment for not more than 20 years or a fine of not more than $20,000.00,
or both; or
(2) Upon a second or subsequent conviction, imprisonment for not less than five years nor more than 40
years or a fine of not more than $40,000.00, or both. It shall be mandatory for the court to impose a mini-
mum sentence of five years which may not be suspended unless otherwise provided by law.
A sentence imposed under this Code section shall be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed.
(c) A conviction arising under this Code section shall not merge with a conviction arising under any other
provision of this article.
(d) It shall be no defense to a prosecution for a violation of this Code section that:
(1) School was or was not in session at the time of the offense;
(2) The real property was being used for other purposes besides school purposes at the time of the offense; or
(3) The offense took place on a school vehicle.
(e) In a prosecution under this Code section, a map produced or reproduced by any municipal or county
agency or department for the purpose of depicting the location and boundaries of the area on or within 1,000
feet of the real property of a school board or a private or public elementary or secondary school that is used
for school purposes, or a true copy of the map, shall, if certified as a true copy by the custodian of the record,
be admissible and shall constitute prima-facie evidence of the location and boundaries of the area, if the
governing body of the municipality or county has approved the map as an official record of the location and
boundaries of the area. A map approved under this Code section may be revised from time to time by the
governing body of the municipality or county. The original of every map approved or revised under this sub-
section or a true copy of such original map shall be filed with the municipality or county and shall be main-
tained as an official record of the municipality or county. This subsection shall not preclude the prosecution
from introducing or relying upon any other evidence or testimony to establish any element of this offense.
This subsection shall not preclude the use or admissibility of a map or diagram other than the one which has
been approved by the municipality or county.
(f) A county school board may adopt regulations requiring the posting of signs designating the areas within
1,000 feet of school boards and private or public elementary and secondary schools as “Drug-free School
Zones.”
(g) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for a violation of this Code section that the prohibited conduct
took place entirely within a private residence, that no person 17 years of age or younger was present in such
private residence at any time during the commission of the offense, and that the prohibited conduct was not
carried on for purposes of financial gain. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to establish an affir-
mative defense with respect to any offense under this chapter other than the offense provided for in subsec-
tion (a) of this Code section.