SMOKE A JOINT, LOSE YOUR LOAN

College Students Face A Funding Crisis As The Feds Pull The Plug On Anyone
Convicted Of Drug Charges

"Anne" is the type of success story that makes college admissions officers
smile. She had little money growing up, but with the help of federal loans
and a lot of sweat she's managed to afford an education at Ohio's Antioch
College. In addition to attending school full time, she currently works two
jobs, one of which involves teaching drama to grade-school children. If all
goes well, she will graduate at the end of the summer with a degree in theater.

But to the federal government, Anne is a campus undesirable. In early May,
police caught her with an empty one-hit pipe containing residue from the
marijuana she occasionally smokes, and now she's awaiting trial. The charge
is only misdemeanor drug possession, but if she's convicted Anne may lose
her federal Pell Grant, which she depends on to pay for school.

That's thanks to a new law kicking into effect July 1, which requires the
federal government to deny or delay all financial aid to students with a
drug conviction in the past year.

"Without federal aid, I couldn't go to school," said Anne. "It's just
utterly ridiculous to think that I've worked this long to get here, and now
this new law might blow me out of the water."

Passed into law two years ago, the no-loans-for-stoners provision of the
Higher Education Act is now drawing heavy criticism from many legislators,
activist groups, and educators who say it will unfairly deprive serious
students of an education and inherently discriminate against minorities and
low-income people.

So far, of the roughly 5 million applications the Education Department has
processed for the 2000-01 school year, only about 3,200 applicants will
either be refused aid entirely or have it delayed because of a drug conviction.

But some 10 million students apply for federal financial aid each year, and
according to the federal government's own most recent estimates, some 27
percent of all Americans aged 18 to 25 have used illegal drugs in the past
year. That means the new law could potentially affect hundreds of
thousands, even millions, of students.

"It's indicative of this obsession with being overly punitive with regard
to the use of drugs," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who has introduced
legislation to overturn the loan ban. "You single out drug offenders, so
apparently armed robbery is not as serious an offense."

Critics say the issue is not just one of numbers but also of basic
fairness. Many students will be penalized for simple bad luck. "It's kind
of just hit-or-miss as far as who gets busted [for drug use]," said Alex
Kreit of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at Hampshire College.

And because it singles out convicted drug offenders, many say the loan ban
provision will hurt minorities - particularly blacks - the most. African
Americans constitute 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses, even
though African Americans and whites have about the same rate of drug use,
according to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

In addition, critics say, the law discriminates against poor people, since
they are obviously most in need of financial aid.

"Wealthier kids are more likely to have adequate counsel in court, and
they're more likely to get a better plea deal," said Adam Smith, associate
director of the Drug Reform Coordination Network. "Even if they do end up
with a drug conviction, they're not going to be dependent on financial aid
to get their education anyway."

Angela Flood, a spokesperson for Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., who sponsored
the legislation, said the provision will help ensure a healthier learning
environment. "[Financial aid] is a privilege, not a right," she said.

Flood also pointed to a provision that exempts drug offenders from the loan
provision if they've completed an "acceptable drug rehabilitation program."
But critics say that since the law will mostly affect minor drug offenders,
requiring that they attend often costly rehab programs to get financial
assistance is unfair in itself.

Aside from the ethical issues it raises, the provision is proving to be an
administrative migraine. Students are supposed to confess to their drug use
in response to one question on the federal student aid application form.
But that question was left unanswered on about 20 percent of the first wave
of applications - not because the applicants were dodging the question but
simply didn't understand it, according to Karen Freeman, communications
director for Student Financial Assistance.

Initially, the page-long "worksheet" (since amended) was worded in such
bewildering language that only someone on serious drugs could have hoped to
make sense of it. To avoid bottlenecking the system, the department
processed the incomplete forms without penalizing any applicants.

An even greater problem officials face is how to tell whether those who do
answer the drug-use question are telling the truth. There is no national
database of drug convictions.

"It is difficult to enforce," admitted Freeman. "Is it really worth slowing
down the system for the millions of applicants who have absolutely no
business with a drug offense to find the very small percentage who are lying?"

Still, Freeman said that students who lie on their aid forms do stand a
chance of being caught - a crime that can bring up to $10,000 fine or
imprisonment.

Last year, Frank introduced a bill to repeal the loan-ban provision. But,
despite several on-campus rallies supporting the bill, it appears doomed,
according to several members of the Education and Workforce Committee,
where it now sits. "My colleagues are terrified of being accused of being
soft on drugs," Frank said. "I think this is one area where the public is
way ahead of them."

Assuming Frank's bill does die, dedicated students like Anne will simply
have to hope for the best.

"It's not like I'm a violent criminal or anything," Anne said. "I'm not out
on the streets raping and killing people. All I want is to get through
these last three months and get my degree."

This article originally appeared in the MoJo Wire, the online sister
publication of Mother Jones, the award-winning investigative news magazine.