DRUG-USE RULE TEACHES HYPOCRISY

Rob a bank, steal a car or assault your classmates with a ball-peen hammer
and Uncle Sam will still help you pay for college. He's a forgiving kind of
guy. But get busted for drugs on prom night and beware: He'll cut you off
at the knees.

That's the lesson in Hypocrisy 101 that college-bound students are being
taught by the Department of Education, which is strictly enforcing a
4-year-old provision that renders applicants convicted of even minor drug
offenses ineligible for federal grants and loans.

Last year alone, 25,000 students were denied federal monies because, on
loan applications, they answered "yes" to the question, "Have you ever been
convicted of using drugs?"

Surprisingly, tuition applicants are not grilled about violent crimes.
What's worse, critics say, the measure discriminates against poor students
who could benefit greatly from a college education, but who are often
unfairly singled out by law enforcement for drug crimes.

The law has had virtually no effect on trust fund babies who don't need
financial aid (and who wouldn't qualify for it, anyway). They can continue
to use illegal drugs with no effect on their college admissions.

The law is so unfair and irresponsible that even its sponsor, Rep. Mark
Souder (R-Ind.), wants to change it. He is blaming finicky bureaucrats for
having the temerity to enforce the law he authored. He says the legislative
intent was to deter students already receiving financial aid from trying
drugs, not to prevent incoming freshmen from getting aid in the first place.

Souder wants to tweak the law so that it applies only to current students
getting financial aid or to those convicted of a felony. But that's not enough.

More promising is a move to repeal the law that has attracted an assortment
of sponsors, including Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the National
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and conservative
Republican Asa Hutchinson, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The best antidote to drug use is getting a good education, not barring the
classroom doors to those who need it most.