DRUGS AND MONEY

Under current law, students with drug convictions are ineligible for
financial aid for at least a year, maybe more, depending on the
conviction. A group opposed to this penalty has been lobbying for
years to eliminate it and will get a chance this week when the House
Education Committee takes up reauthorization of the Higher Education
Act on Wednesday.

Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.), a strong supporter of the drug penalty,
tried earlier this month to preempt the effort to repeal it with a
Dear Colleague letter. It warned members of Congress not to heed the
word of the "small but determined coalition of drug-legalization
groups" that opposes the penalty. "Before you are bombarded by the
talking points of such groups, I wanted to make sure everyone has the
facts straight," he wrote.

The group, however, did its own straightening of facts. Sixteen of its
members replied with a letter that's going out today asking that
Souder "retract" his characterization of them. Among the hippies to
fire back: the American Federation of Teachers, American Friends
Service Committee, National Association of Social Workers, Union for
Reform Judaism, etc. See the full list of the aggrieved after the jump.

American Federation of Teachers

American Friends Service Committee

Coalition of Essential Schools

College Parents of America

Fellowship of Reconciliation

Friends Committee on National Legislation

International Nurses Society on Addictions

National Association of Social Workers

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence

National Education Association

National Women's Health Network

National Youth Rights Association

Therapeutic Communities of America

Union for Reform Judaism

United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society