Pubdate: Mon, 16 Sep 2002
Source: Peak, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Peak Publications Society
Contact:  http://www.peak.sfu.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/775
Author: Melissa Kronfeld, D.C. Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)

U.S. DRUG POLICY CONTINUES TO DENY STUDENTS AID

WASHINGTON - More than 30,000 American college students will be denied 
federal funding for the 2002-2003 school year due to the Drug-Free Student 
Aid provision of the Higher Education Act, according to an annual report 
released by the U.S. Department of Education. The HEA provision, which was 
passed by Congress in 1998, denies federal financial aid to students with 
prior drug convictions.

A total of 86,898 students have been denied financial aid since the 
enforcement of the HEA drug provision in 2000 and the DOE estimates that 
tens of thousands of students will chose not to apply for federal financial 
aid due to the provision.

A drug conviction is the only crime that results in the loss of federal 
financial assistance. Students convicted of any other crime, including 
murder or rape, may still receive full funding.

In a recent statement, Representative Mark Souder, the bill's author, said 
that the measure was originally enacted to cut federal funding to those 
students who received drug convictions while already receiving aid. Souder 
also hoped that the bill would act as a means to discourage drug use among 
high school teens.

Over 10 million students apply for federal aid annually and according to 
estimates made by the DOE, 27 per cent of Americans between the ages of 18 
and 25 admitted to using an illegal substance in 2001. Despite an increase 
of more than $12 billion in federal funding to wage the war against drugs 
since 1982, almost half of all high school students in the United States 
admit to experimenting with an illegal substance.

Graham Boyd, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Policy 
Litigation Project, believes that the HEA provision is unfair to minorities.

"This law is discriminatory," Boyd said. "If a student is convicted of a 
drug offence, and [the student's] family can afford to pay for college, 
[the student] will be unaffected by the legislation, while those who are 
already in danger of being pushed to society's margins will not be able to 
get federal aid."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager