Pubdate: Sun, 03 Jul 2005
Source: Lewiston Sun Journal (ME)
Copyright: 2005 Lewiston Sun Journal
Contact:  http://www.sunjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/743
Author: Ruth Blauer
Note: Ruth Blauer is executive director of the Maine Association of 
Substance Abuse Programs in Augusta.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

HIGHER EDUCATION ACT DRUG PROVISION FINANCIAL AID RESTRICTION IS SENSELESS

Mainers and other Americans struggling with drug addiction face 
significant barriers to recovery, many of which were unnecessarily 
constructed by lawmakers in a counterproductive effort to reduce drug abuse.

Perhaps the most detrimental legislatively erected barrier is the law 
that denies college financial aid to people with drug convictions on 
their records. Blocking access to education is both senseless and 
harmful to those who are in recovery, as well as to their families, 
friends, neighbors and society at-large.

This policy, which has barred more than 160,500 would-be students 
from receiving aid, is the result of a provision added to the 1998 
Higher Education Act. Lawmakers from Maine and around the country 
should work to repeal the HEA drug provision and help affected 
students get back into school as soon as possible.

Preventing people from higher education does nothing to prevent drug 
abuse or help people get over their addictions. Actually, being 
enrolled in college reduces the likelihood that people will head down 
the path to drug abuse.

According to a 2004 report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 
18 percent of college students have used an illicit drug other than 
marijuana in the past year, compared to 24 percent of their same-age 
peers who aren't enrolled in college. Five percent of college 
students have used cocaine in the past year, while nine percent of 
their same-age peers have.

Additionally, receiving an education reduces the likelihood that 
individuals coming out of prison will return to engaging in illegal 
activity, including drug use.

The Correctional Education Association found that prisoners who 
receive at least two years of higher education have only a 10 percent 
arrest rate, compared with a national rearrest rate of about 60 
percent. Denying education to at-risk individuals only dooms them to 
a life without the financial opportunities bestowed by a college 
degree and makes them more likely to repeat poor choices they may 
have made in the past.

Lawmakers should encourage people returning to communities from 
prison or struggling with addiction to move beyond their stumbling 
blocks, but the HEA drug provision threatens their chances of 
becoming productive members of society. Graduating more college 
students means increased tax revenue from greater economic 
productivity, whereas incarcerating more prisoners means that 
taxpayers must pay the bill for increased criminal justice spending.

Breaking cycles of addiction and recidivism are crucial to building a 
healthy and just society, and benefits individuals, their families, 
their communities, public health and safety, and taxpayers. Freedom 
from addiction is possible, but barriers like the HEA drug provision 
make the road to recovery much harder to travel. The law perpetuates 
the discrimination and stigma that prevents many people from seeking 
recovery or moving on to better lives once they achieve it. The drug 
provision is not a deterrent to drug use; it's a deterrent to recovery.

Consequently, the addiction recovery community has resoundingly 
rejected this counterproductive approach to drug abuse prevention. 
Along with more than 200 other organizations, the Association for 
Addiction Professionals, Join Together, the American Public Health 
Association and the National Association for Public Health Policy 
have asked Congress to repeal the HEA drug provision.

The Removing Impediments to Students' Education Act, a U.S. House 
bill that would repeal the HEA drug provision, has 67 co-sponsors, 
including Rep. Thomas Allen from Maine. But there isn't yet a similar 
bill in the Senate. Maine's Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins 
should act to reinstate aid to Mainers working to get their lives 
back on track.

If they don't, who will?
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth