Pubdate: Thu, 21 Mar 2002
Source: Journal Gazette, The (IN)
Copyright: 2002 The Journal Gazette
Contact:  http://web.journalgazette.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/908
Author: Joyce Nalepka
Cited: http://www.ssdp.org (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)
Note: Joyce Nalepka is president of Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge and 
was president of the national drug prevention organization that former 
first lady Nancy Reagan chaired, the National Federation of Parents for 
Drug-Free Youth.

APPLAUD SOUDER'S EFFORTS TO FIGHT ILLEGAL DRUG USE

The recent verbal attack on Rep. Mark Souder by the so-called Students for 
Sensible Drug Policy who traveled from Indiana, Illinois and Washington, 
D.C., to Fort Wayne was as senseless as is illegal drug use.

As a 24-year veteran in the effort to educate parents, students, teachers 
and voters about the damage done by marijuana and other drugs, I have 
encountered pro-drug legalization organizations all across America. 
Legalization groups operate under names like the Drug Policy Foundation, 
Drug Policy Alliance, Lindesmith Center, Marijuana Policy Project and The 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Two former 
congressmen, one Republican and one Democrat, after an investigation called 
NORML the militant organizational arm of the drug culture supported by the 
drug culture magazines, the drug paraphernalia industry and, to a certain 
extent, even the traffickers.

We have watched the evolution of Students for Sensible Drug Policy from 
groups that promote legalization and that operate under various titles but 
share many of the same members. Students are invited to conferences at 
various universities to "discuss legislation prohibiting student loans to 
those convicted of drug offenses." It appears that the young people are 
then recruited into the legalization movement.

As far as continuing to shadow the congressman, Carolyn Lunman, an SSDP 
member from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. said, "He'd 
better watch his back."

At its Web site (www.drcnet.org, Issue No. 226), SSDP threatens to "keep an 
eye on Souder's events calendar and will be developing a strategy to have a 
greater presence in Souder's district." This fringe group claims only 2,000 
votes can defeat Souder. His defeat would be a tremendous loss to the drug 
fight.

If you wonder how students finance their participation and air travel to 
these various conferences or meetings to harass elected officials who, in 
Souder's case, have the interest of both the kids and his constituents at 
heart, visit their pro-drug Web site.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is a militant fringe of the drug 
legalization movement. As parents, we would treat membership in SSDP as 
firmly as we would treat drug use. Stop the behavior and resign from the 
group or pay your own tuition.

Souder has been targeted by the legalizers specifically because he has been 
doing the right thing - making every effort to curb drug use in America. He 
is highly respected by those of us who have been in the trenches for years. 
He is highly respected by those congressmen and women on both sides of the 
political aisle who have banded together to target drugs at the national 
level. Souder was selected by his peers to co-chair the Speaker's Task 
Force for a Drug-Free America.

The very bill that these "Sensible Students" are complaining about 
prohibits any student with an illegal drug conviction from receiving a 
federally subsidized student loan, unless the student passes two drug tests 
and undergoes drug treatment. If the student tests clean and goes through a 
drug rehabilitation program, the student could re- qualify for federal 
student aid.

It is shocking that anyone would object to this common-sense legislation, 
which serves two purposes - to keep drug dealers and drug addicts off our 
campuses, where they are known to contribute to crime and the drop-out 
rate, and ensure that federal dollars for student aid go only to the 
deserving, not to those who break the law.

Moreover, it gives families leverage to prevent or stop their children's 
drug use. At a recent meeting with parents whose sons and daughters died of 
overdose while at college, the most frequently heard statement was, "If 
your child is already involved in illegal drugs, don't send him off to 
college. It's like an open-air drug market and there is no supervision."

We urge Souder's constituents to applaud his efforts and keep sending him 
back to Congress. He is one of the select few who is unafraid to stand up 
to the drug pushers.

Would you want your child or grandchild to end up in a dorm room with a 
non-rehabilitated drug criminal? Thanks, Congressman Souder, for making our 
colleges safer, and for protecting our campuses against the scourge of drugs.
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