Pubdate: Sun, 28 Dec 2003
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2003 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Marcella Bombardieri and Jenna Russell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

BUT DID HE INHALE?

It's not easy having a famous dad. After Harvard student Albert Gore III -- 
yes, son of that Albert Gore -- made the news last week for being arrested 
in Maryland for marijuana possession, activists made him a poster boy for 
their campaign against a 1998 law that denies financial aid to any student 
with a drug conviction. The law has deprived more than 124,000 students of 
financial aid, according to Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which bills 
itself as the fastest-growing student organization in the United States. No 
other crime triggers the same punishment. "If Al Gore's son was paying for 
school with financial aid, a conviction for marijuana possession could end 
his education and seriously damage his future," said SSDP national director 
Darrell Rogers in a statement. "Since his parents can afford to pay for his 
education, Albert Gore III's Harvard education will continue 
uninterrupted." Gore, 21, and two passengers were arrested Dec. 19 when he 
was stopped for driving without his lights on. An officer, who noticed the 
windows and sunroof open in cold weather, found a marijuana cigarette and a 
cigarette box containing suspected marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager