Pubdate: Mon, 23 Oct 2006
Source: Wichita State University Sunflower (KS Edu)
Email:  http://www.thesunflower.com
Address: 1845 Fairmount - Campus Box 134, Wichita, KS 67260-0134
Fax: 316.978.3778
Copyright: 2006 Wichita State University Sunflower
Author: Laura Green
Note: Green is Executive Director of the Drug Policy Forum of Kansas
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)
Cited: SSDP http://www.ssdp.org
Cited: DPFKS http://www.dpfks.org

DRUG POLICIES HARM STUDENTS

Many of you may be surprised to learn students with drug convictions 
have been blocked access to federal financial aid as a result of a 
little known provision of the Higher Education Act (HEA) called the 
Aid Elimination Penalty, or Drug Provision.

To date, nearly 200,000 students have been denied or had their 
federal loans, grants and work-study delayed because of the HEA Aid 
Elimination Penalty. Until early 2006, this penalty was applied to 
any drug conviction a person had received, whether or not they were 
in school when the offense occurred. Due to the efforts of the 
organization Students for Sensible Drug Policy (ssdp.org) who worked 
with Congress to scale back the law, now only people who are 
convicted while in college and receiving financial aid can have their 
eligibility taken away.

It's a small change to the law but an important step on the road to 
scaling back the "get tough on crime" policies the drug wars have 
unfairly imposed on students. The way the Aid Elimination Penalty is 
written, students who commit property crimes, violent crimes or get a 
DUI or MIP are not subject to any penalty at all. Students who get 
one conviction for possession of marijuana in a state court will lose 
their aid for one year. A second drug conviction will put you out two 
years, and a third for life.

First-time marijuana possession charges in Wichita go to city court, 
so the Aid Elimination Penalty does not apply. It only counts in 
state or federal court. The second marijuana possession charge 
automatically goes to state court and is a felony.

If you think because you don't use drugs, the Aid Elimination Policy 
can't affect you, think again. Students who are simply in the wrong 
place at the wrong time can lose college aid. Police officers called 
to a residence hall or private home on a noise complaint can arrest 
everyone in the room if drugs are found in plain view. During traffic 
stops, if police find drugs under the seat or in the glove box, 
everyone goes to jail.

Fortunately, there are students who continue to educate fellow 
students and challenge the government's drug control policies. 
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) argue "statistics and common 
sense tell us it doesn't make sense to pull students out of school if 
we want to reduce drug abuse and encourage young people to become 
successful citizens. "The Aid Elimination Policy of the Higher 
Education Act obstructs the path to education. It perverts the Act's 
important, noble intentions. "

SSDP chapters across the country are speaking out about the harms of 
prohibition from the DARE generation perspective, your generation, 
who are bearing the brunt of America's failure to create a drug-free America.

SSDP's mission is to mobilize and empower young people to participate 
in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a 
safer and fairer future while fighting back against counterproductive 
Drug War policies, particularly those directly harming students and youth.

I urge students at WSU to get involved in SSDP--an international 
grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact 
drug abuse has on our communities and also know the War on Drugs is 
failing their generation and our society.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman