Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 Source: Daily Pennsylvanian, The (U of PA, Edu) Copyright: 2006 The Daily Pennsylvanian Contact: http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2730 Author: Andrew Scurria Cited: Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation http://www.saferchoice.org/d_campus.html Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.ssdp.org Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act) STUDENT GROUPS AIM TO LESSEN DRUG PENALTIES In the wake of legal challenges to a statute that denies federal financial aid to students with drug convictions, groups across higher education are pressing for a reevaluation of universities' responses to marijuana-related offenses. These groups, which range in name from Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation to Students for Sensible Drug Policy, have taken aim at the way in which colleges deal with students caught using marijuana. The main criticism offered by these groups is directed at the fact that marijuana-related incidents often prompt police involvement and parental notification -- which doesn't happen at many of these schools for alcohol-related offenses. They also contend that alcohol and controlled substances should both be governed with the goal of preventing injury, not preventing use. Stephanie Ives of the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, however, contends that the response of an institution to a drug crime is generally not something it has a great deal of control over. "You can't create additional policies about drugs because the law sort of trumps all," said Ives, who is in charge of crafting the University's alcohol policy. "You can talk about how to create a healthier environment with alcohol because it's a legal substance. You can't do the same thing with drugs." That distinction is precisely what many opponents of this approach are taking aim at. "It doesn't come down to drugs and alcohol being 'punished equally,' " said Dan MacCombie, president of Brown University's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Instead, he argues, the goal should be "harm reduction" and the appropriate response "should be to prevent individuals who choose to use drugs from harming others, as well as to ensure that they are not taking unreasonable risks to their health." According to the Office of Student Conduct, both drug- and alcohol-related offenses can involve arrest, and the number of arrests for each are comparable. OSC also said that because their proceedings are confidential, no incident, even one involving drugs, would automatically prompt notification of a student's parents and that a note on the student's permanent record would only be made if probation, suspension or expulsion were ordered. Some schools go much further, kicking students out of on-campus housing, for example, if the student acquires a drug conviction. And all convictions result in ineligibility for federal student aid. SSDP and another group have filed a challenge to the 1998 Higher Education Act, which prohibits students with drug convictions from being granted federal financial aid. The issue, while a problem for some college students, may not be as pressing at Penn. "It is basically a non-event here," said Bill Schilling, director of student financial aid, adding that Penn's policy calls for University money to cover any federal loans lost due to a drug conviction. Penn does not have a chapter of SSDP, but Princeton, Cornell, Brown, Columbia and Duke universities do. An OSC official also said that if the public were to take a different view of controlled substances in the future, his institution could as well. That would depend, though, on how that new view were to be "codified." MacCombie, for his part, said that the issues for which he advocates are more about an individual's protection than about choice or recreation. He also said that his group is, for the most part, respected within the local community and that his concerns are getting attention. "We do, however, get negative stigma from being 'the stoner group,'" he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake