SHRUB YANKS STUDENT AID FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

Bush's War on Youth

The Bush administration has begun enforcing a law that denies federal
financial aid to college students with drug convictions. In the past,
thousands of students simply didn't answer a question about drug
offenses on their forms and got aid just the same. Now if they don't
answer, the application will be rejected.

The law says that anyone convicted of possession or sale of a
controlled substance "shall not be eligible to receive any grant,
loan, or work assistance." The ban runs from one year for a first
count of possession to two years for a second offense. A third offense
makes the ban indefinite. First sale brings a two-year ban, with an
indefinite ban for a repeat offense.

According to Brian Gralnick of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, on
requests for this current school year over 270,000 of the 10 million
applicants left the question blank. Only 8900 applicants reported
disqualifying convictions and lost some or all of their aid. But
because of new enforcement, some 14,000 people have had their
assistance pulled. Gralnick predicts that number may swell to 70,000,
hurting disadvantaged kids most.

"We feel this law is discriminatory against the poor, who need
financial aid," Gralnick said. "And it's also discriminatory toward
African Americans, who we know are targets of the drug war more so
than the whites. . . . I believe that the war on drugs is nothing more
than the war on youth."