COLLEGE AID

Repeal Punitive Drug Policy

Federal education policy has denied nearly 200,000 college-bound
students federal financial aid because they had prior drug
convictions.

The Clinton-era law that went unenforced until President Bush took
office requires students to acknowledge whether they have ever been
convicted of possession or selling illegal drugs. Students are asked
on their college-aid application about drug convictions. They can be
declared ineligible for at least a year for a single count of
possession with penalties increasing to indefinite disqualification
for more than one conviction.

Students For Sensible Drug Policy analyzed U.S. Education Department
data to find that 189,000 applications had been refused federal aid
since the question was added to application forms in the 2000-01
school year. tHe numbers are a very small percentage of the millions
of students that have applied and obtained federal aid over the years.

But release of the report renews questions about the wisdom of a
policy that can prevent men and women from obtaining a college
education for a single mistake made in their youth.

Federal aid to pay for soaring college expenses can decide whether
some applicants, especially the poor, will attend college - an avenue
to better their lives and maybe those of their families.

The policy imposes a civil penalty on top of the criminal fines or
even prison sentences already served for their crime without evidence
that it is a deterrent. Although a student can regain eligibility by
completing a rehabilitation program with random drug test, that is an
unnecessary cost for what can be a minor offence.

College officials and many organizations want the provision repealed.
It is time for Congress to do that.