Pubdate: Fri, 10 Dec 2004
Source: Daily Free Press (Boston U, MA Edu)
Copyright: 2004 Back Bay Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.dailyfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/796
Author: Stephanie Sheen
Photo: fund raiser http://www.mapinc.org/images/SSDP.jpg
Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.ssdp.org
Cited: Drug Reform Coordination Network http://www.drcnet.org
Cited: Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts http://www.dpfma.org
Cited: John W. Perry Fund http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/perryfund/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Barney+Frank
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Mark+Souder
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Higher+Education+Act
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)

REP. HELPS STUDENT DRUG CONVICTS

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) joined members of several nonprofit
organizations Thursday at the Omni Parker Hotel to discuss a federal
provision that denies college students convicted of drug-related
offenses federal financial aid.

In 1998, Rep. Mark Souder (R-Indiana) introduced legislation adding
the drug-related crime provision to the Higher Education Act, which
prevents students convicted of drug-related crimes from receiving
federal funds such as loans, grants and even work-study programs.

Frank has led a national effort to repeal the legislation, which has
denied over 157,000 students federal financial aid.

Those opposing the legislation said the provision has a negative
impact on the education process.

"We'd like to see it repealed in its entirely. It's counterproductive.
We need to make it easier, not more difficult to go to school," said
Scarlett Swerdlow, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug
Policy. "The purported aim of it was to decrease drug use on college
campuses by giving students a reason to say 'no.' There's no evidence
that the provision has done this."

The law currently penalizes any college applicant who has been
convicted of a drug-related crime, regardless of when it occurred,
meaning prospective students could be penalized for something they did
years before.

"Effectively, these people are being punished a second time on a crime
for which they've already been punished by the criminal justice
system," said David Borden, executive director of the Drug Reform
Coordination Network.

The law affects minority and low-income individuals
disproportionately, critics said, because they are most likely to be
those targeted and convicted for drug crimes. Swerdlow said the
legislation targets those the Higher Education Act was meant to protect.

"The provision only affects those people who need financial aid, not
the children of the wealthy but those of modest means who rely on
government assistance to go to school," she said.

Yet, federal financial aid remains available to those convicted of
other crimes.

"It's the government's job to help people, not hurt people. It's
ridiculous that a murderer can get federal funding to go to school but
someone who did pot can't," said Yakov Kronrad, a former graduate
student who was convicted of a drug-related offense and denied federal
aid.

Souder is currently seeking to reform the legislation to penalize only
those drug offenses occurring while on financial aid, a move President
George W. Bush has openly supported.

But Souder's changes are a temporary solution to a law that is
inherently wrong, activists said.

"It's a 10 percent solution to a law that's 100 percent flawed,"
Swerdlow said.

The Drug Reform Coordination Network and the Drug Policy Forum of
Massachusetts have created a scholarship fund for individuals affected
by the provision. The John W. Perry Fund distributes awards of up to
$2,000 to be used either for educational expenses or to attend a drug
treatment program, to restore eligibility for federal aid. Their goal
is to raise $100,000 through a number of nationwide fundraising events.

"What we're doing here is important to those young people whose life
would be changed, but there's another step in this assault," Frank
said. "We could change it all. It could lead to greater things."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake