Pubdate: Thu, 08 Jun 2000
Source: New Times (CA)
Section: Education
Contact:  http://newtimes-slo.com/
Author: Jake Ginsky
Note: This article originally appeared in the MoJo Wire, the online sister 
publication of Mother Jones, the award-winning investigative news magazine. 
http://mojones.com/
Cited: Students for a Sensible Drug Policy: http://www.ssdp.org/  and 
http://www.drcnet.org/

SMOKE A JOINT, LOSE YOUR LOAN

College Students Face A Funding Crisis As The Feds Pull The Plug On Anyone 
Convicted Of Drug Charges

"Anne" is the type of success story that makes college admissions officers 
smile. She had little money growing up, but with the help of federal loans 
and a lot of sweat she's managed to afford an education at Ohio's Antioch 
College. In addition to attending school full time, she currently works two 
jobs, one of which involves teaching drama to grade-school children. If all 
goes well, she will graduate at the end of the summer with a degree in theater.

But to the federal government, Anne is a campus undesirable. In early May, 
police caught her with an empty one-hit pipe containing residue from the 
marijuana she occasionally smokes, and now she's awaiting trial. The charge 
is only misdemeanor drug possession, but if she's convicted Anne may lose 
her federal Pell Grant, which she depends on to pay for school.

That's thanks to a new law kicking into effect July 1, which requires the 
federal government to deny or delay all financial aid to students with a 
drug conviction in the past year.

"Without federal aid, I couldn't go to school," said Anne. "It's just 
utterly ridiculous to think that I've worked this long to get here, and now 
this new law might blow me out of the water."

Passed into law two years ago, the no-loans-for-stoners provision of the 
Higher Education Act is now drawing heavy criticism from many legislators, 
activist groups, and educators who say it will unfairly deprive serious 
students of an education and inherently discriminate against minorities and 
low-income people.

So far, of the roughly 5 million applications the Education Department has 
processed for the 2000-01 school year, only about 3,200 applicants will 
either be refused aid entirely or have it delayed because of a drug conviction.

But some 10 million students apply for federal financial aid each year, and 
according to the federal government's own most recent estimates, some 27 
percent of all Americans aged 18 to 25 have used illegal drugs in the past 
year. That means the new law could potentially affect hundreds of 
thousands, even millions, of students.

"It's indicative of this obsession with being overly punitive with regard 
to the use of drugs," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who has introduced 
legislation to overturn the loan ban. "You single out drug offenders, so 
apparently armed robbery is not as serious an offense."

Critics say the issue is not just one of numbers but also of basic 
fairness. Many students will be penalized for simple bad luck. "It's kind 
of just hit-or-miss as far as who gets busted [for drug use]," said Alex 
Kreit of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at Hampshire College.

And because it singles out convicted drug offenders, many say the loan ban 
provision will hurt minorities - particularly blacks - the most. African 
Americans constitute 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses, even 
though African Americans and whites have about the same rate of drug use, 
according to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

In addition, critics say, the law discriminates against poor people, since 
they are obviously most in need of financial aid.

"Wealthier kids are more likely to have adequate counsel in court, and 
they're more likely to get a better plea deal," said Adam Smith, associate 
director of the Drug Reform Coordination Network. "Even if they do end up 
with a drug conviction, they're not going to be dependent on financial aid 
to get their education anyway."

Angela Flood, a spokesperson for Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., who sponsored 
the legislation, said the provision will help ensure a healthier learning 
environment. "[Financial aid] is a privilege, not a right," she said.

Flood also pointed to a provision that exempts drug offenders from the loan 
provision if they've completed an "acceptable drug rehabilitation program." 
But critics say that since the law will mostly affect minor drug offenders, 
requiring that they attend often costly rehab programs to get financial 
assistance is unfair in itself.

Aside from the ethical issues it raises, the provision is proving to be an 
administrative migraine. Students are supposed to confess to their drug use 
in response to one question on the federal student aid application form. 
But that question was left unanswered on about 20 percent of the first wave 
of applications - not because the applicants were dodging the question but 
simply didn't understand it, according to Karen Freeman, communications 
director for Student Financial Assistance.

Initially, the page-long "worksheet" (since amended) was worded in such 
bewildering language that only someone on serious drugs could have hoped to 
make sense of it. To avoid bottlenecking the system, the department 
processed the incomplete forms without penalizing any applicants.

An even greater problem officials face is how to tell whether those who do 
answer the drug-use question are telling the truth. There is no national 
database of drug convictions.

"It is difficult to enforce," admitted Freeman. "Is it really worth slowing 
down the system for the millions of applicants who have absolutely no 
business with a drug offense to find the very small percentage who are lying?"

Still, Freeman said that students who lie on their aid forms do stand a 
chance of being caught - a crime that can bring up to $10,000 fine or 
imprisonment.

Last year, Frank introduced a bill to repeal the loan-ban provision. But, 
despite several on-campus rallies supporting the bill, it appears doomed, 
according to several members of the Education and Workforce Committee, 
where it now sits.  "My colleagues are terrified of being accused of being 
soft on drugs," Frank said. "I think this is one area where the public is 
way ahead of them."

Assuming Frank's bill does die, dedicated students like Anne will simply 
have to hope for the best.

"It's not like I'm a violent criminal or anything," Anne said. "I'm not out 
on the streets raping and killing people. All I want is to get through 
these last three months and get my degree."

This article originally appeared in the MoJo Wire, the online sister 
publication of Mother Jones, the award-winning investigative news magazine.
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