DRUG-USING STUDENTS DON'T DESERVE FUNDS

Being an American comes with many rights. The rights to free speech,
religion and general freedom to live our lives (within legal limit) as
we please are among the countless many we are privileged enough to
enjoy.

However, we have responsibilities for these luxuries. Paying taxes and
abiding by the law are a couple of the measures required of us as
citizens. The opportunities we are afforded require us to be held
accountable for our actions.

Bearing this in mind, consider the following scenario: A young man in
college is convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession. Part of his
punishment for the crime is losing his eligibility for federal
financial aid for one year. Crime, then punishment. Seems simple
enough, right?

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, however, it's not.
They proclaim that this piece of legislation, adopted in 1998, is
"discriminatory" and "counter-productive." They cite the fact that the
law applies "even to misdemeanors and violations, not just felonies."
Further, they argue that the privileged student who is convicted of a
drug offense will not be affected by this measure, and that "those who
are already in danger of being pushed to society's margins will not be
able to get federal aid to rehabilitate themselves."

There are several flaws in the argument the ACLU has laid out in their
crusade to push for overturning this piece of legislation. First,
their rationale seems to minimize the significance of a drug
misdemeanor or violation. "If students are experimenting with drugs,"
their Web site says, "forcing them to drop out of college will only
make it harder for them to become successful, productive members of
society."

However, if these students are using drugs, do we want our federal
financial aid dollars going to them in the first place? It stands to
reason that there is a limit on how much money the government can
supply to eligible college students each year, so is it fair to give
equal priority to funding the education of both the convicted drug
user and the student with a clean record?

The ACLU also purports that these students who are victims of
"discrimination" under this law will not be able to rehabilitate
themselves if they are not granted the federal aid they need. Yet, the
students affected by this law made a conscious decision to use drugs,
and most likely on more than one occasion before they were caught.

Why, then, does the ACLU assume that it is the government's
responsibility to allocate its resources to "rehabilitate" these
individuals? Does college constitute rehabilitation for students
merely guilty of "experimenting" with drugs?

Drug use is a significant problem in our society. According to the
2004 National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health administered by
the United States Department of Justice, 27.8 percent of individuals
age 18-25 admitted to marijuana use in the last year. The survey also
found that marijuana and cocaine use is most prevalent among persons
of that same age group.

It is interesting to note that voter turnout in the last midterm
election for this age demographic was far lower than their reported
drug use percentages, at just 21 percent for females and 18 percent
for males, according to the Center for Information and Research on
Civic Learning and Engagement.

If we expect to see a decline in drug use, what good is accomplished
by repealing the punishment for such an offense? What does that teach
the individual guilty of the offense?

If you read the article in today's Daily Leader (page 8) regarding a
student lobbying on these restrictions, you'll see that South Dakota
lawmakers don't appear to agree with the ACLU, either, although
legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to
repeal the law.

We are among some of the luckiest people on Earth. We aren't
persecuted for the God we believe in, can vote however we choose and
make of ourselves whatever we believe we're capable of -- and yet some
expect to be allowed to commit crimes and still be rewarded?

College students, especially those who break drug laws, are not
entitled to financial assistance. It is just one of the many things
that we as American citizens are privileged to be able to access.