YOUTHFUL INDESCRETION FOLLOWS INTO ADULTHOOD

At the outset of the 2000 presidential campaign, Vice President Al Gore told
the nation that he had smoked marijuana as a college student. After being
exposed by the press, Texas Gov. George W. Bush reluctantly acknowledged
that he had been arrested for driving while drunk.

In light of these illegal acts (driving while drunk is potentially lethal to
innocent people) by these wealthy, powerful men -- one of whom will be the
next president of the United States -- I sympathize with the former migrant
farm worker who telephoned about her son who has been ruled ineligible for
federal aid to attend Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. The
18-year-old became ineligible because he got himself busted for sharing a
joint with friends at a party in Belle Glade.

He was convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and, as a result,
officially lost a year's eligibility for federal aid under a provision in
the 1998 Higher Education Act that took effect for the 2000-01 school term.
This was his first run-in with the law. He received probation and paid a
fine.

The loss would not be a problem if the family -- mother and three teenage
boys -- had money. The mother's job as a convenience store cashier is the
family's sole income. And she struggles to attend community college at night
to improve her chances of becoming a store manager.

Before you paragons of ethical behavior start sermonizing, let me say that I
do not condone breaking the law. Nor I do embrace people who make stupid
mistakes. I do, however, believe in fairness and common sense when "youthful
indiscretions" are involved, as Texas Gov. Bush calls them (Bush was 30, by
the way, when he was arrested).

That said, I believe that Congress needs to revisit this onerous
legislation. Under provisions of the bill, drafted by conservative
Republican Rep. Mark E. Souder of Indiana, eligibility may be cut for 12
months for a first conviction of simple drug possession, two years for a
second and indefinitely for a third conviction. Students can recoup
eligibility if they complete a drug rehabilitation program or get their
convictions set aside.

Currently, according to the Education Department's Office of Student
Financial Assistance Programs, nearly 7,000 of the 9-million students who
sought federal aid this school term are ineligible for part or all of
financial support because of recent drug-related convictions in state or
federal court. For some people, that figure is high, but many conservatives
regard it as low.

"Justice Department figures tell us that roughly 1 percent of the U.S.
population have a drug conviction, so it would follow roughly that 1 percent
of the people who apply for aid would have a drug conviction to report,"
Karen Freeman, a spokeswoman for the Student Financial Assistance Programs,
told the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The Chronicle reports that about 10-million students apply for federal aid
each year, and by Oct. 15, the department had handled nearly 9- million for
this year. Again, I believe that the punishment is far too harsh for a
misdemeanor, given the slap on the wrist that many segments of the adult
population receive for the same offense.

The student in Belle Glade failed to get his conviction set aside. His last
recourse for regaining eligibility for next year is to complete a drug
rehabilitation program in West Palm Beach. Sounds simple. But it is not.

"I have to pay hundreds of dollars to do rehab," he said. "I can't afford
the fee, so what am I supposed to do now? I paid my fine. I'm not a drug
addict. I did a joint a couple of times with my friends. That's all. These
people act like we committed some big deal crime and that we're shooting up
heroin or something. I'll bet some of them smoked pot and did cocaine in
college."

Unable to afford the rehabilitation program, the would-be student is trying
to get an uncle to co-sign for a bank loan. Instead of attending the
university, he will attend the local community college if he gets the loan.

The legislation has a Catch-22, David Borden, executive director of Drug
Reform Coordination Network, said in the Chronicle: Currently, the only
students losing aid are those who tell the entire truth about their
convictions on the Free Application for Student Aid distributed by the
education department. The form asks if students have been convicted of a
drug-related offense. Borden says the overwhelming majority leave the
question blank. According to the Chronicle, about 275,000 students this year
did not answer the question even after the education department pressed them
to do so. Most received aid. Initially, more than 790,000 ignored the
question.

Officials have changed the question on the new application with the warning:
"Do not leave this question blank." They expect an increase in truthfulness.
Lying will make students ineligible for aid. Many groups, such as the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and the Drug Reform
Coordination Network, reject the drug measure and counsel students on how to
answer, according to the Chronicle.

"Most of these students lament that they are being singled out in a feckless
war on some drugs," Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the NORMAL
Foundation, told the Chronicle. "These same students could binge-drink to
death or smoke themselves blue in the face with tobacco, and yet they would
not be denied a student loan for engaging in that kind of activity."

I agree. The nation's so-called war on drugs is selective to the point of
being ludicrously ineffective. It should not be a stumbling block to higher
education. After all, these young people, like Gore and Bush, will grow up
one day.