Pubdate: Mon, 28 Mar 2005
Source: Daily Campus, The (UConn, CT Edu)
Copyright: 2005 ThesDaily Campus
Contact:  http://www.dailycampus.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2778
Author: Rashid Grier
Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.ssdp.org
Cited: Coalition for Higher Education Reform http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)
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/people/Barney+Frank
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Mark+Souder
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Tom+Angell

DEFENDING THE DRUG OFFENDERS

According to press secretary Jennifer Gore, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is 
submerging into the trenches of the nation's drug war. Frank and 55 other 
Congress members launched bill H.R. 1184, also known as the Removing 
Impediments to Student's Education (RISE) Act March 9. The act is designed 
to repeal a 1998 drug provision of the Higher Education Act (HEA).

If the bill were to pass, students denied financial aid due to previous 
drug misdemeanors, felonies and state or federal drug offenses would 
receive financial aid instead of losing it. Presently, an amendment to the 
Higher Education Act proposed by Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) withholds 
financial aid from students under those circumstances.

Over 100 student government organizations, 180 community organizations and 
56 co-sponsors, such as the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People (NAACP) and Faces and Voices of Recovery, are championing 
the bill before the 160,500 students denied financial aid since year 2000 
increases.

"Students who have drug convictions but don't come from families that need 
financial aid are not affected by this law," Frank said, through 
information provided by Gore. "I don't condone drug use and believe that 
someone who commits a violent offense or is a major drug trafficker should 
be denied financial aid. But preventing students with minor convictions 
from being able to pursue an education is counterproductive and excessive."

There have been no hearings on the RISE Act as of yet and the primary 
committee dealing with the act, the Education and Workforce Committee, 
hasn't scheduled any either, Gore said.

Similar attempts for legislation to repeal the 1998 drug provision are 
simultaneously occurring. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is introducing the 
S371, a higher education bill similar to the RISE act. In another similar 
attempt, the Arizona General Assembly came to a bipartisan resolution and 
introduced the "concurrent memorial" on Feb. 3.

A significant flaw with the 1998 drug provision is that it targets 
minorities, primarily young African American males, according to the NAACP 
and Students for Sensible Drug Policy's web site (SFSDP). African Americans 
make up 13 percent of the population and 13 percent of the drug users, but 
account for 55 percent of the drug convictions, according to the Coalition 
for Higher Education Act Reform (CHEAR). Further information shows 36 
percent of blacks are arrested in drug violations, 42 percent are sentenced 
to federal prison and 57 percent are sentenced to state prison, according 
to figures from the Justice Department.

According to CHEAR, there are various issues besides discrimination, such 
as the harm it causes lower income families, punishing students twice for a 
crime and steering students from returning to college. Thirty-six percent 
of students that left four-year colleges before the beginning of their 
second year did not return within five years, according to the Department 
of Education.

A situation similar to Marisa Garcia's, a junior at California State 
University-Fullerton convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia, defers 
students from returning, according to CHEAR representative Chris Mulligan.

"The HEA drug provision created an immense burden on me and my family, but 
I had a support structure to help get me through this - many others are not 
so fortunate," Garcia said, according to raiseyourvoice.com. "This law is 
fundamentally flawed."

The 1998 drug provision possesses three ironies according to CHEAR. The 
first irony is that the drug provision fails to hinder students convicted 
of rape or other violent offenses. Second, it does not target the country's 
primary drug problem, alcohol abuse. Third, the HEA already withholds 
financial aid from students earning lower than a "C" average, causing the 
drug provision to target students doing well.

"I have a hard time finding the justification and rational for this 
provision," said Tom Angell, a member of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, 
according to blackamericaweb com. "Souder's first instinct was to strip 
students with drug offenses without even thinking about other offenses such 
as rape or arson."

The intent of the provision was to provide a deterrent to keep students 
from committing drug offenses while enrolled in higher education, according 
to information provided by Souder through the National Association of 
Student Financial Aid Administrator's website. Supporting students that use 
drugs contradicts the government's war on drugs, according to an SFSDP video.

"Students have to realize that their choices have consequences, and if they 
break the law, then they should have to pay their own way through college," 
said Lori Waters, a participant in an SFSDP video.

Students do not have to attend college - there are other alternatives, such 
as working their way through community college, Waters said in an SFSDP 
video. Federal money is not a necessity, especially when we should think 
about awarding illegal behavior, according to Waters in an SFSDP video.

The HEA was enacted in 1965 under then President Lyndon B. Johnson for the 
purpose of extending the opportunity of secondary education to minorities 
and low-income families. The 1998 drug provision proposed by Souder denies 
financial aid based on set periods of time for students with drug convictions.

Students that marked anything but "no" on question 35 for their FAFSA form 
are required to fill out an extra worksheet that determines their when they 
may begin to receive aid again. Ineligibility lasts for one year for first 
time possession, two years for a first dealing offense and is indefinite 
for repeat offenders.

In 1998, the drug provision slipped into funding for the HEA and Congress 
would have to vote against completely funding the HEA or allow the drug 
provision to stay and keep the HEA, too, according to Gore. Since the drug 
provision went into effect, congressmen have persistently reintroduced the 
RISE Act to repeal the provision. Presently, The RISE Act is still pending, 
Gore said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake