Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2005
Source: Daily Free Press (Boston U, MA Edu)
Page: 6
Copyright: 2005 Back Bay Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.dailyfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/796
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/FAFSA
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

TIME FOR A DRUG-FREE FAFSA

Americans may not agree on much these days, but they continue to rally
around the importance of education and the need for its improvement.
 From crime and poverty to employment and gender disparities, education
is consistently cited as the only suitable tonic for our nation's
ills. But since 2000 the value of education has been subverted by a
need to discourage drug use. However, the law, a part of the Higher
Education Act that forbids students with minor drug charges from
receiving federal aid, does not have sufficient value as a deterrent
to balance the damage it does to the goals of need-based financial
aid.

The law as it is defined today unfairly targets a narrow, already
disadvantaged segment of the population: low-income students.

It essentially adds an additional punishment to drug charges that only
applies to poor Americans trying to pay for college.

Wealthy students who can afford an education without financial aid and
who use drugs are not subject to the law, nor are drug-users who
choose not to seek a higher education. The HEA has no power to deter
drug use in these areas.

Instead it targets the most disadvantaged students - students who
struggle to be able to go to college despite economic hardships.

Drug use is just one of many questionable decisions made by young
Americans. But the FAFSA is only concerned with drug charges, not
shoplifting, vandalism or other common juvenile crimes.

If the federal government denies educational funding to students
because they have broken its laws, it should do so consistently, not
pick and choose between offenses. A more reasonable law might deny aid
to students with felonies or who have committed violent crimes.

But as offenses go, drug use is a fairly victimless crime - one that
millions of Americans commit without getting caught. Granted, students
who chose to do drugs and get caught should be penalized. But, because
of the nature of the crime, taking vital money away from students who
have been arrested for drug-related offenses seems harsh.

The main tenant of criminal justice is the idea of reform and
prevention. And there is no better reform than education.

For many low-income students, education is an escape from an
environment that includes drug use. Closing this door because of drug
charges is completely opposite of the intentions of federal aid. The
war on drugs should be fought elsewhere - financial aid should not be
denied because of the very social problem it is meant to solve.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake