Pubdate: Fri, 21 Dec 2001
Source: Las Vegas City Life (NV)
Website: http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/
Address: Suite 111, 1385 Pama Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89119
Contact:  2001 Las Vegas City Life
Author: Angela Flores

UNLV STUDENTS DEBATE CONTROVERSIAL POT LEGISLATION

The list of those negatively affected by what some UNLV students call the 
"insane" drug war is growing, as large numbers of young people are missing 
out on the opportunity for a higher education.

According to Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, a national organization 
trying to educate the public on the problems with the drug war, nearly 
40,000 people will be denied the chance at a college education due to a 
1998 law that excludes those with prior drug convictions from getting 
federal financial aid.

UNLV student representatives recently added their voice to the 69- member 
choir of college student governments nationwide, calling on Congress to 
strike down the law, which some say is unfair and discriminates against the 
poor.

"If you're wealthy and you get a drug conviction, your parents are still 
going to be able to pay your way through college," said Lewis Whitten, a 
SSDP national board of directors member. "If you're not wealthy - well 
things just got a little tougher for you, if they weren't tough enough 
already."

The controversial 1998 act makes a student ineligible for federal aid for 
one year after a conviction of any state or federal offense involving 
possession or sale of a controlled substance. The penalty is two years upon 
a second conviction, and a "three strikes" (i.e., "you're screwed") 
indefinite denial of aid goes into effect upon a third conviction.

During the debate at the UNLV student senate meeting Dec. 10, 
representative Jermaine Lloyd questioned student and local SSDP president 
Jesse L. Underwood regarding whether the group was concealing diabolical 
motives.

"I hope this is not a guise to advocate the legalization of marijuana, 
because I definitely don't support that," Lloyd said, pointing to an SSDP 
brochure containing instructions on how to roll a joint.

"Sure, I would like to see marijuana and some other drugs legalized, but 
this is not about that," said Whitten. "This is about education."

Legislation attempting to overturn the law, House Resolution 786, was 
introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., in February. Fifty-five 
congressional representatives have co-sponsored the resolution. One name 
absent from that list: Rep. Shelley Berkley.

Students were heartened by a letter from Berkley assuring that she will 
"follow this important issue." The letter continued, "Education is an 
important issue and all those who wish to become educated should have an 
opportunity to do so in order to improve themselves and their lives through 
learning."

But such rhetorical attempts at appeasement are not enough, students say. 
They want Berkley to co-sponsor the bill.

The main point of contention is question 35 on the Free Application for 
Federal Student Aid - the tedious form students fill out to apply for 
federal grants and loans - which asks whether a student has been convicted 
of a drug offense. The nearly 300,000 applicants who refused to answer the 
question in 2000 had their aid processed anyway. Only during the Bush 
administration have students been forced to answer it.

"[The 1998 resolution] fell on students like a ton of bricks," said Steven 
Silverman, campus coordinator for the Drug Reform Coordination Network. 
"They couldn't believe it. They saw this as proof that the war on drugs was 
really a failure. It had another purpose - in this case, to deny access to 
education to needy students. The drug war was supposedly fought on behalf 
of young people, and now it's being used to punish us."

But will politicians, thought to be terribly out of touch with 
undergraduate-related issues, take notice of UNLV's student 
representatives? Some say yes.

"They're realizing that the students are dramatically opposed to this," 
said Silverman. "We're encouraging students to use the resolution as a 
golden ticket to appeal to higher level decision makers such as their 
chancellors, congressional representatives and senators ... to appeal to 
them and say, 'Hey, students overwhelmingly reject this.'"

Nevada recently altered its notoriously tough drug laws, making it a 
misdemeanor to have one ounce or less of marijuana in one's possession. 
However, the ban on federal aid applies to misdemeanors as well as felonies.
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