A coalition of U.S. House Democrats introduced legislation today that would repeal a moratorium on federal financial aid to college students with drug convictions, citing denial of aid for 8,162 students this school year. "Someone who commits murder or armed robbery is not automatically barred from financial aid eligibility," said U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). "But if you have even one non-violent drug conviction, you can't get any aid for a year, with longer bans for people with additional convictions." [continues 407 words]
College students with drug convictions could be eligible for federal financial aid under a proposal to change existing regulations. The measure proposed by several House Democrats Wednesday would repeal a moratorium on such aid, which has been denied to 8,162 students with drug convictions this school year. "Someone who commits murder or armed robbery is not automatically barred from financial aid eligibility," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. "But if you have even one non-violent drug conviction you can't get any aid for a year, with longer bans for people with additional convictions." [continues 358 words]
Now That Washington Has Turned Its Repressive Drug Policies Against Students, A Growing Campus Network Is Fighting Back When Shawn Heller and Brian Gralnick joined Students for Sensible Drug Policy in 1998, as sophomores at George Washington University, SSDP was just a handful of students from Rochester Institute of Technology. One of them, Kris Lotlikar, was working in Washington, D.C. at the Drug Reform Coordination Network. Heller met Lotlikar and started the second SSDP chapter, which soon included Gralnick. Their focus was decriminalizing marijuana for medical purposes - until Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind,) decided to target college students with drug convictions who were seeking federal loans. In October 1998, a law was passed as part of the Higher Education Act that prohibits any applicant with an adult drug conviction from receiving federal financial aid. No other group, including convicted murders, was similarly excluded. The Drug War had just hit college campuses. [continues 961 words]
A law that denies federal college financial aid to applicants convicted of drug crimes is igniting a nationwide campus movement urging reforms in the nation's drug policy. Meanwhile, as college-bound students gear up this month to apply for financial aid for the fall, U.S. Education Department officials hope to avoid repeating last year's applications mess, in which 810,000 of the more than 9 million aid applicants left the controversial drug question unanswered. Most applicants either forgot to fill it in or didn't understand it, Education Department officials say. But they also suspect that a small percentage of applications were incomplete as part of an organized protest against the law. They also worry that some students may have lied. [continues 667 words]
On Campuses Across The Country, Opposition To Government Drug Policy Heats Up Say you're a student who needs help paying for college. You order the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) from the Department of Education and start answering the 104 questions. On Question 28, a curveball: "If you have never been convicted of any illegal-drug offense, enter 'I' in the box and go to Question 29:" No convictions, you mark the box and move on. But anyone who has been convicted in an adult court of possessing or selling drugs, misdemeanor or felony, might need to find another way to pay for school. [continues 1849 words]
Conference Brings Together Students From 50 Colleges Students from 50 colleges said the war on drugs failed at the first annual Student Leaders in Drug Policy and Justice Conference held at GW this weekend. The GW Chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy sponsored the event, which drew more than 200 students to the Marvin Center Ballroom. The event featured workshops about bringing activism to campuses and speeches by people who said U.S. drug laws do not work. GW SSDP President Shawn Heller said the conference will be the "birthplace of a major social movement." [continues 337 words]
