DROP DRUG PROVISION FROM HIGHER EDUCATION ACT

The organization Students for Sensible Drug Policy is rightly upset
about a provision in the Higher Education Act.

The group says the HEA's drug provision has thwarted the educational
aspirations of more than 160,000 prospective students since 1998.

The provision denies or delays eligibility for federal financial aid
for any student who has been convicted of a drug violation, even
misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Students in Maine - including the University of Maine at Orono and the
University of Southern Maine - are calling on Sen. Susan Collins to
introduce a bill to reinstate such aid.

A House version of the bill, called Removing Impediments to Students'
Education (RISE) Act - has 63 co-sponsors, including Maine Rep. Tom
Allen.

Students at USM point out that universities already have the right to
punish students who violate conduct codes, and that people convicted
of drug crimes are already sentenced by courts.

The HEA's provision is poorly placed and unfair. The denial of aid
should not be an added consequence of a drug conviction. Doing so
could shake a person off the road to a productive life just when he or
she needs help the most.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy points out that students who receive
at least two years of higher education are far less likely to re-offend.

The drug provision also unfairly punishes poorer students because
middle class or weathy students convicted of drug crimes may not need
access to financial aid.

Students currently must undergo rehabilitation to resume eligibility,
and that's not completely unreasonable. Even that requirement has
flaws, however. It has the potential to hang students up in red tape,
for one thing, and doesn't acknowledge that students who can't afford
college tuition may have trouble paying for rehabilitation, too.

The law should be changed so that students who are trying to
straighten out their lives aren't deterred from doing so.