All too frequently, reports we publish on people arrested for drug offenses mention that children were present when the crimes were committed. That is unacceptable, especially when young ones are put at physical risk.

The sheer number of incidents that occur with a child present shows the current misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child doesn’t serve as much of a deterrent, particularly in cases involving the manufacture and sales of illegal drugs.

A bill introduced four times over the past seven years is being discussed once again in the state Assembly. The legislation, Assembly Bill 3218, deserves serious consideration during this legislative session. The measure has been introduced by Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat, and would create the crime of endangering the welfare of a child by exposure to controlled substances. A parent, legal guardian or caregiver who endangers a child’s person or health by knowingly causing or permitting a child less than 17 years old to be present where any person is selling, manufacturing, possessing the immediate precursors or chemical substances with the intent to manufacture or possess a controlled substance could be convicted of and be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year or payment of a fine of not more $3,000. The bill has been referred to the Assembly’s Codes Committee.

Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Lanza, R-Brooklyn, and Patrick Gallivan, an Erie County Republican, passed three times in the state Senate in the past three years and would create a new class D violent felony offense of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree and convert the current offense of endangering the welfare of a child to a second degree crime. It is more wide-reaching than Rosenthal’s bill, but doesn’t include exposing children to the sale, manufacture or possession of drugs to the more serious felony charge.

A combination of the two pieces of legislation should be agreed to and approved by the state Legislature. What drug producers and dealers do to other adults is bad enough. Placing children in jeopardy demands harsh punishment.