LEGISLATION AGAINST COLLEGE DRUG USERS RAISES LARGER ISSUES

(U-WIRE) EVANSTON, Ill. -- I've been hearing a lot of talk about the
provision of the 1998 Higher Education Act that delays or denies federal
financial aid to any student with any drug offense.

The attention is warranted -- the law is blatantly discriminatory
because it only applies to students not wealthy enough to pay for their
education out of their own pocket and makes no effort to solve abuse
problems or aid treatment programs.

I'm glad this issue has catalyzed action at Northwestern. Drug laws are
a focus of the new American Civil Liberties Union chapter at NU, and
soon we will have a chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. Many
schools have passed student government resolutions denouncing the HEA
provision, including Associated Student Government, which passed a bill
last January.

But the problems with U.S. drug policies should concern us far beyond
their effects on higher education. Hopefully the HEA will get
Northwestern thinking about drug issues that do not directly relate to
universities -- like helping people who are living with drug use and
orienting the government toward doing likewise.

The Chicago Recovery Alliance is doing a good job of both. CRA runs the
second largest program of syringe exchange in the United States --
exchanging between 20,000 to 30,000 used syringes for clean ones each
week.

They have a system worked out with law enforcement whereby people in
possession of hypodermic syringes are exempt from prosecution if they
are carrying a CRA card that matches their program participation number.

Open Monday through Friday, CRA is located at 10 N. Hamlin Ave. in East
Garfield Park. It passes out materials needed for safer practices --
step-by-step guides to vein care, free discussion and printed
information on avoiding overdoses and other forms of risk reduction, as
well as referrals for treatment and testing.

Each day, CRA's big silver van is also on location throughout the city
at scheduled intervals, exchanging needles, supplying information and
ready to help.

The goal is to reduce drug-related harms by supporting changes for the
better, however individuals define them. CRA's Web site,
www.anypositivechange.org , describes this philosophy.

CRA also advocates legalizing purchasing and owning syringes. These
measures would cost Illinois nothing, and CRA reports that in states
like Connecticut, such laws have led to a 40 percent decrease in risk
injection. But such legislation is politically unpopular because the
ideological "war" is not only on drugs but also on drug users.

The HEA provision is clearly an outgrowth of the war on drug users. The
Department of Education reports that it has cost more than 8,600
students some or all of their federal aid this year. But I would guess
that the illegalization of syringes hurts far more people than the HEA
ever could.

Then again, don't take it from me. Dan Bigg, a founder of the CRA, will
discuss how the war on drugs plays out in Chicago and throughout the
United States as part of a drug law forum at 7 p.m. May 25 at 1205 N.
Milwaukee Ave.

U.S. drug policies -- like funding Colombian arms and domestic prisons
over treatment options and risk reduction -- aid the spread of disease,
fear and misinformation. And ultimately, they cost the lives of people
in our communities.

Come find out how all this relates to your life at NU -- as it
undoubtedly does -- and then remember that sometimes, it doesn't have
to.