I am writing this letter in response to Erin Perucci's column "Drug
Use Doesn't Deserve Aid," (Feb. 18).

Ms. Perucci's unfortunate piece, I'm afraid, is fairly representative
of one of the most alarming aspects of contemporary American culture
and policy in its attitude toward drug use and punishment. There is
little doubt, as anti-drug activists literally point out, that drug
abuse is among the most self-destructive behaviors in which
individuals can and do engage.

Unfortunately, the response most commonly favored by politicians and
moralists, namely, the drug war, has proven to be one of the most
self-destructive activities in which the polity has itself engaged.

I shan't expound in any depth upon the legions of non-violent
offenders who crowd our prisons and bestow upon the United States the
dubious honor of boasting one of the largest prison populations (per
capita) of any industrialized nation.

Instead allow me to focus on the absurd "logic" of the Higher
Education Act's denial of financial aid to students convicted of drug
possession. Never mind that this is a provision that, because of its
very nature, can only apply to middle- and lower-income students who
need financial aid to continue their education.

Never mind that the supposed dangers of college drug use didn't seem
to impede Bill Clinton from becoming president, nor Newt Gingrich from
attaining the speakership of the House of Representatives (the latter
dismissed the significance of his drug use in this fashion: "all it
means is that I was alive and in college in the '60s.")

Forget all that. Consider merely the following: What the anti-drug
zealots have instituted with this law is a system whereby individuals
of little economic means who already engage in a form of petty
criminality are denied the opportunity of securing for themselves the
benefits of a decent education that might help them to become
productive members of society that is every day more dependent on
skilled labor for its economic well-being. The absurdity of the
proposal baffles the mind! It is the logic of a political class
hell-bent on punishment no matter the cost to society; damned the
torpedoes, full speed ahead!

What any rational society should engage itself in is the education of
criminals, not the criminalization of students.

"If a student loses financial aid and must leave school, the
government and the school should provide rehabilitation and make sure
that the student can get on track," writes Perucci. It's a nice
thought, but where's the program? It's nowhere, because in a political
culture like ours, so furiously committed to flushing our children
down the toilet like just so many fine bags of Jamaican grass, any
response to a problem that does not entail a hearty dose of punishment
is mere "midnight basketball" and thus, despicable.

David Flores
GSAS