GROUPS FIGHT RULE ON AID TO STUDENTS

Drug Convictions Disqualify Applicants From Getting Federal Funds.
Foes Say The Law Is Unfair.

After Marisa Garcia was busted for possessing a pipe with marijuana
residue, she pleaded guilty, paid a $415 fine and thought she had
paid her debt to society.

She was wrong: When she applied for federal financial aid to attend
Cal State Fullerton, she learned she was ineligible because of the
misdemeanor conviction.

"I was thinking I made this horrible mistake which is going to ruin
my access to education," said Garcia, 25, of Santa Fe Springs. The
sociology major's mother is refinancing her home mortgage to help pay
Garcia's fees . "You've already been punished and now you get
punished twice ... and I don't think that punishment is benefiting
anyone," Garcia said.

She is among hundreds of thousands of students denied federal student
aid or who didn't apply for it because drug convictions made them
ineligible under a 1998 amendment to the Higher Education Act
intended to deter student drug use.

The huge number of denials has sparked a backlash by students,
educators and civil libertarians who are seeking to repeal the
drug-conviction provision through Congress and the courts.

"Students are absolutely outraged that our access to education is
being lost as collateral damage in the drug war," said Tom Angell of
the Washington, D.C.-based Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which
has lobbied Congress to repeal the measure and is a plaintiff in a
federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education.

Backers of the law counter that the federal government has the right
to set standards for recipients of its aid money. Similar
restrictions apply to federally subsidized housing and welfare.

"People 18 to 22 should be somewhat smart enough to know how lucky
they are to get scholarship money. It's not an entitlement," said Sue
Thau, a public policy consultant for the Community Anti-Drug
Coalitions of America in Alexandria, Va. "At some point as a society,
we do need to hold people responsible for their decisions."

Nearly two-thirds of undergraduates in 2003-04 received government or
private aid, according to the U.S. Department of Education. This
year, the federal government expects to give out $82 billion in
grants, loans and other assistance to more than 10 million students.

Under the Higher Education Act, students with any drug conviction
occurring after 18 are denied federal aid, such as Pell grants and
Stafford loans, for at least a year. Students with three drug-use
convictions or two drug-sale convictions are permanently ineligible.
Offenders can regain eligibility by completing certain drug-treatment
programs, though critics say the costs are often prohibitive.

A drug conviction is the only crime that triggers a denial in student aid.

"Murderers and rapists are eligible to receive aid, but a student
caught with a single marijuana cigarette is automatically denied," Angell said.

Since 2000, when the law took effect, more than 189,000 students have
been deemed ineligible because they admitted to a conviction or
refused to provide information on aid applications, according to U.S.
Department of Education data obtained by Angell's organization.

An unknown number, including Garcia, did not file an application,
knowing their convictions would make them ineligible. Garcia, as a
first-time offender, was denied aid for a year.

California, the most populous state, has had the highest number of
drug-conviction denials -- 31,830 out of 8.8 million applicants.

California also has a disproportionately high rate -- one in every
278 applicants, 44% higher than the national average.

The drug-conviction provision was created by Rep. Mark Souder
(R-Ind.), who saw it as a deterrent to drug use.

"Drug use and drug dealing are a pervasive and real problem on our
college campuses," said Martin Green, Souder's spokesman. "American
taxpayers should not be subsidizing the educations of convicted drug
dealers or drug users."

But Souder's intent was not to punish students for acts occurring
before they started receiving aid, which is why he backed an effort
to limit the law's scope to drug convictions after a student begins
receiving aid, Green said. The amendment, approved earlier this year,
takes effect in July.

Opponents say that's not good enough and are challenging the law.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation that would
eliminate the drug-conviction provision.

Frank said he learned of the issue through meetings with several
student-aid officials and was disturbed by its implications,
particularly for needy students.

"It's kind of symptomatic of people treating drugs in an excessive,
almost histrionic fashion, where drugs are treated worse than murder
and rape," Frank said. "Why single drugs out as worse? Why penalize
poor people as opposed to rich people?"

Frank's legislation is stalled in the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union in March filed a
class-action lawsuit against the Department of Education, arguing
that the law violated the double-jeopardy and equal-protection
provisions of the Constitution and disproportionately affected poor
and minority students.

"This law doesn't deter drug use. It deters education," said Adam
Wolf, an attorney with the ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project in Santa
Cruz. "Funding education is one of the smartest uses of tax dollars.

If students stay in college, they have a far greater chance of
becoming productive, tax-paying members of society."

The law is unconstitutional, Wolf argues, because students with drug
convictions have already been punished for their crimes and because
it irrationally penalizes drug convictions but not other crimes, such
as shoplifting or drunk driving. The government has yet to respond to the suit.

One of the suit's three plaintiffs is Kraig Selken, 21, a fourth-year
student at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.

The history major receives roughly $3,500 per year in federal loans
to pay his tuition.

In October, Selken and two roommates were convicted of possessing
fewer than 2 ounces of marijuana. Selken pleaded guilty, served three
days in jail and paid a $250 fine.

He contacted the ACLU after learning that the conviction would
disqualify him from receiving aid next year. Selken also could be
forced to return aid from the current school year.

Selken's father is a truck driver; his mother drives a school bus.
They can't afford to help him pay for school, so Selken recently
started working a second job in case his loans were revoked.

My parents "are definitely not paying for school," he said. "It's a
matter of: I'm either finding enough money or I'm not going."

[sidebar]

FINANCIAL AID DENIAL

A high percentage of students applying for college in California have
been denied financial aid because of a drug conviction, according to
data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Applicants denied federal financial aid because of drug convictions
from the 2000-01 to 2006-07 school years

State Total aid applicants Number denied financial aid One applicant denied per

Indiana 1,778,982 8,903 200

California 8,794,431 31,830 278

Oregon 997,710 3,637 278

Washington 1,585,720 4,762 333

Rhode Island 274,167 807 345

Connecticut 804,589 2,242 357

N. Carolina 1,887,657 5,323 357

Texas 5,611,435 15,026 370

Arkansas 142,089 363 385

Iowa 915,034 2,367 385

Kentucky 1,060,042 2,782 385

Oklahoma 964,900 2,508 385

U.S. total 76,784,347 189,065 400

NOTE: Only states with rates higher than the national average are shown

Source: Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. Graphics reporting by Seema Mehta