REEFER MADNESS

Even potheads should be eligible for federal financial aid.

But thanks to Congressman Mark Souder (R-Indiana) they soon won't be. The
U.S. Department of Education recently proposed rules to implement a law
sponsored by Souder that denies federal financial aid to students who have
been convicted of a drug offense. The policy will take effect July 1, 2000.

If the intent of the law is to weed out financial aid applicants who aren't
good students, then it's misdirected. A student should be evaluated on his
performance in the classroom -- not by his extracurricular activities.

If the intent of the law is to crack down on drug users, then it's unfair.
Why should marijuana possession uniquely disqualify a student from
financial aid when a conviction for hundreds of other crimes -- some
violent -- doesn't? Unfortunately, when government officials start talking
about drug offenses, rational thought all too often flies out the window.

Whatever the intent, the law is bad public policy. Bluntly put, getting
busted with a joint at the Phish show shouldn't be cause to deny a poor
student a chance for a college education. A student's academic future
shouldn't go up in smoke just because Congress wants to look tough on drugs.

The new policy doesn't really come as a surprise. It's only the latest
example of a government gone overboard in its zest to "win" the now decades
long war on drugs. That's one toke over the line, sweet Jesus!

Perhaps it would be better if the government took the $9 billion it spends
each year arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating marijuana users and
spent it on more Pell Grants. Don't expect that to happen anytime soon
though. Until we start treating drug abuse as a public health problem --
and not a cause to wage war in our own country -- we can only expect more
bad laws like this one.

In Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey's speech at the University this Monday, he
declined to use military rhetoric and said the "war on drugs" is over. But
the new financial aid policy serves as a reminder that the war is still
going strong. Sadly, students will soon be the latest casualties.