Pubdate: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 Source: Sidelines, The (TN Edu) Copyright: 2007 Middle Tennessee State University Contact: http://www.mtsusidelines.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2861 Author: Matthew Adair Note: Matthew Adair is a senior art education major Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) SAY "NO" TO CUTTING STUDENT AID We're told a great number of things are important as we're growing up: a good work ethic, the ability to listen and a strong sense of proper hygiene, for instance. Topping the list, though, is honesty. Without honesty, we're told, we can't have anything else. Families, businesses, even countries are unable to function if we cannot depend on knowing that we are speaking the truth to one another. With that said, we should be appalled to know that our government is lying to us, the students of this university, as well as schools across the country. It isn't even that we are being lied to, but that, by lying to us and spreading misinformation, thousands of students are being denied access to financial aid to help pay for a college education. The lie in question is the federal government's policy on drug possession and use, specifically the information spread by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign's public service announcements. The campaign's various television, radio, print and online ads intend to keep children and young adults away from drug abuse, but research has shown that these ads often backfire and result in mistrust towards any effort to discourage substance abuse. Take, for instance, the Office on National Drug Control Policy's campaign against marijuana use. This particular arm is one of the most prominent parts of ONDCP's overall anti-drug campaign, and the one most of us are familiar with. In an evaluation organized by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and released in Aug. 2007, it was found that ONDCP's ads often do more harm than good, making it more likely that the viewer will try marijuana if they haven't already. Similarly, research at Texas State University released in May, 2006 agrees with NIDA's findings. Comparing exposure to anti-tobacco and anti-marijuana ads among 18 and 19-year olds, it was found students watching anti-marijuana ads were less likely to believe them than students watching similar anti-tobacco ads. Everyone from independent researchers to Congress' own Government Accountability Office agrees: ONDCP's anti-drug campaigns, specifically their anti-marijuana campaign, does not deter people from using the drug, and may in fact encourage them to try the drug out of defiance. As a result, most of the students who do light up and get caught lose their financial aid, due to a provision in the Higher Education Act, added in 1998, that strips a student of their aid upon conviction of any drug-related offense, and prevents them from ever receiving aid ever again. No financial aid often means no college, and no college in today's world relegates a person to a life in the service industry, or another dismal, low-paying job with little chance of advancement. By cutting students off from financial aid, ONDCP is setting up a situation where it becomes more likely that students who have at one time used drugs will develop a consistent habit of abuse later in life. Without access to higher education, which opens access to more money and thus more options for treating drug addiction, the federal government is essentially writing off the futures of thousands of young adults as a loss without thinking of what could be done to help them. The Higher Education Act is up for reauthorization this year, and grassroots organizations such as Students for Sensible Drug Policy have managed to persuade Congress to at least consider revising the rules on financial aid. It must be our responsibility as students, and as a nation of people who believe in giving everyone the chance to make something of their lives, to remove a rule that punishes those who have already been punished for not knowing who or what to trust. It is disgraceful that someone can murder, rape, steal or commit any combination of these, or any other offense, and still be eligible to receive government grants, loans and scholarships should you ever be released. If, however, you get caught smoking a joint once, your future is over. Our government's bad policy and bad information is perpetuating its own War on Drugs, condemning an untold number of people to a future of mediocrity when, with help, those same people could have achieved great things. If that's the truth our government wants to sell us, then it's time we just said no to the Aid Elimination Policy. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake