MARIJUANA ARRESTS COSTING STUDENTS FINANCIAL AID

Putting It Bluntly

Weed, pot, reefer, Mary-Jane, ganja, nugs, beasties, headies and
schwag. No matter what you call it, marijuana arrests are up, and
students are in danger of losing their financial aid.

In 2006 one marijuana arrest occurred every 38 seconds, amounting to
829,625 arrests within the U.S. in one year, according to report
recently released by the FBI. Last year's total is the highest in
U.S. history, as the number of arrests has tripled since 1990.

Since the beginning of this school year at least 24 people have been
arrested for possession of marijuana by campus police.

These numbers have more consequences to students than just jail
time. Under a 1998 amendment to the Higher Education Act, which
automatically strips financial aid from college students with any
drug convictions, 200,000 students have been denied aid, reported a
Students for Sensible Drug Policy press release.

According to the FBI report, there were more marijuana arrests in
2006 than there were for all other violent crimes combined,
including murder, rape, manslaughter, robbery and aggravated
assault. In fact, marijuana arrests comprised 44 percent of all drug
arrests in 2006. Of these violations, 89 percent, or 738,915 people
were charged with possession alone.

As 18-24 year-olds amounted to 40 percent of all marijuana arrests
in 2002, according to the FBI report, this could potentially affect
many students. As a result, many students and organizations from
campuses across the country are participating in a week long rally
against the financial aid elimination penalty for drug convictions.

More than 125 student governments and 3,000 education, addiction
recovery, religious and criminal justice organizations are calling
on Congress to repeal the amendment, arguing that murders, rapists,
arsonists and burglars are allowed to receive aid, while those with
drug convictions aren't.

The week, sponsored by the Students for Sensible Drug Policy,
started on Oct. 15 and will continue through tomorrow. Activists
will be giving out 1,500 postcards for students to sign, which will
be hand-delivered to Capitol Hill, asking legislators to repeal the
penalty. As the Education and Labor Committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives is preparing to reauthorize the Higher Education
Act, the group hopes to inspire change in legislation.

"This student aid elimination penalty is a terrible policy," Tom
Angell, director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said.
"Blocking access to education and taking people out of school causes
more not less drug abuse in our society. When you prevent someone
from earning a college degree it hurts our economy. Our country
needsmore education, not less."

While there is not a chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy at
JMU, there are options for students who want to help. Students can
go to schoolsnotprisons.com to write their legislatures on drug
policies they find unfair. Student reaction has been mixed regarding
the anti-drug legislation.

"I feel like it's a fair thing to have," senior Ashley Knox said.
"When you have financial aid from the government you have to uphold
certain standards."

Sophomore Kimberly Humphries seemed to agree, as she thinks the
money would be better spent on students who focus more on schoolwork
than drug use.

"It's not fair to students who take their studies seriously," she said.

Others, however, disagreed.

"People are doing much worse things (than smoking marijuana) but
they can afford to go to school," senior Jill Kirshner said.

Freshman Kurt Hoffman agreed, saying that the thought marijuana
should be considered separately from other more serious drugs.

He said, "I don't think marijuana is a big problem, except when it's
combined with other drugs."