STUDENTS LIKE THESE MAY NEED COLLEGE AID THE MOST

BODY: When it comes to college student aid, logic has become a
prisoner of the drug war. Under current law, anyone convicted of a
drug offense, no matter how minor, may be ineligible for federal
student financial aid. It's a destructive, illogical policy that
should be abandoned.

The prohibition quietly became law in 1998 as part of a bill
reauthorizing federal spending for postsecondary education. It
provides for a varying period of ineligibility after conviction-from
one year to indefinite-based on the nature and number of offenses.
After the ineligibility ends, students can come in from the cold if
they satisfactorily complete a treatment program that includes at
least two unannounced drug tests.

The law had little impact initially because the drug conviction
question on aid applications was ambiguous, which led to confusion
about how to apply the law. The query has now been refined, and so far
this year, of 4.5 million applicants for aid, 32,394 indicated a past
drug conviction. Another 11,000 left the question blank. Some fraction
of applicants in those two groups will no doubt be denied aid.

The intent of the law was to discourage drug use and sales by students
and to nudge users into treatment. But the law is destructive. It
could force otherwise good students, caught using, say, marijuana, to
drop out of school. And people with drug convictions who sincerely
want to turn their lives around by getting an education would be
hindered in that effort.

The law is also illogical. Why deny financial aid to people convicted
of drug offenses, but not those convicted of murder, kidnapping or any
number of more heinous crimes?

The law also singles people out for punishment based on economic
status. Students who can pay their college bills out of pocket don't
have to worry that a drug history could force them out of school. And
it encourages lying. Applicants who say they've never been convicted
are unlikely to have that assertion checked.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation to end this
particular drug inquisition. President George W. Bush should support
it, and Congress should pass it.