Pubdate: Sat, 02 Apr 2005
Source: Indianapolis Star (IN)
Copyright: 2005 Indianapolis Newspapers Inc.
Contact: http://www.indystar.com/help/contact/letters.html
Website: http://www.starnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/210
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)

DRUG CONVICTION RULE UNFAIR TO STUDENTS

Our position is: Congress should not penalize a student's first drug-use 
conviction by denying federal financial aid.

Count on young people to sometimes do stupid things. Yet one bad choice 
shouldn't keep them from attending college.

But that's been the unfortunate result of a provision in the Higher 
Education Act that denies federal college aid to applicants who have been 
convicted of a drug offense. Since the rule took effect in 2000, it has 
disqualified more than 160,000 students from receiving federal grants, 
loans or work assistance. The number is higher when you factor in those who 
skipped the drug question on financial aid forms, which automatically makes 
them ineligible for aid.

The law says students who have been convicted of possessing drugs can't get 
federal financial assistance for a year. They can be reinstated sooner if 
they successfully complete drug rehabilitation and pass two random drug 
tests. A second drug conviction costs them two years of eligibility, and a 
third nixes their chances for college aid indefinitely. Dealing drugs 
carries more significant sanctions: a two-year ban on federal scholarship 
assistance on the first conviction and indefinitely for the second.

While punishing drug users and dealers is a desirable goal, denying 
financial aid to students with a single drug conviction goes too far. To 
fix the problem, Congress should modify HR 1184 to eliminate the penalty 
for a first-time drug-possession conviction. The bill currently would drop 
the drug question from forms altogether. It is co-sponsored by at least 56 
members of the House and has won support from the National Education 
Association and the American Council on Education.

At the least, Congress should pass a proposal offered by Rep. Mark Souder, 
R-Ind., which exempts a drug conviction that occurred before college.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom