WAR ON DRUGS OR WAR ON EDUCATION?

10/12/05 - To the Cigar,

As college students around the country prepare for this semester's
midterms, thousands of their would-be classmates don't have anything to
study for because of a federal law that strips financial aid from people
with drug convictions.

The policy is currently being reconsidered as Congress renews the Higher
Education Act (HEA) for the first time in seven years.

While the HEA was originally enacted in 1965 to make higher education more
accessible and affordable for all Americans, the Drug Provision - added
during the 1998 HEA reauthorization - is an unjustifiable roadblock in the
path to college.

Over the past seven years, more than 175,000 students have lost their
financial aid because of the HEA Drug Provision.

Every student affected by this law has already gone through the courts.
Taking away their financial aid punishes them twice for the same crime.
Drug crimes are the only infractions that students lose aid for - murderers
and rapists are still eligible.

And because of racial profiling and the discriminatory enforcement of drug
laws, the policy disproportionately keeps people of color out of college.

Last month, Congress researchers at the Government Accountability Office
were unable to find any evidence the provision actually reduces drug abuse.
In fact, other federal studies show that high school graduates not
attending college are far more likely to use drugs than those in college.

Besides worsening our nation's drug problems and victimizing students who
are trying to turn their lives around with a college education, this law
hurts America's economic productivity and makes our streets more dangerous.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, college graduates earn 62 percent more
each year and $1 million more over lifetimes than people with only high
school diplomas.

College graduates pay twice as much federal income tax than high school
graduates. The revenue-slashing aid ban is unacceptable in a time of budget
shortfalls.

And the law does more than hurt revenue; it drives up public spending.
Educated people are less likely to rely on costly social programs like
welfare, food stamps and public housing.

Budget hawks should be outraged that this provision prevents people from
pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and becoming productive taxpaying
citizens.

College graduates are also less likely to break the law and become costly
drains on the criminal justice system. People with only high school
diplomas are 12 times more likely to be incarcerated than college
graduates. Jailing one prisoner costs $26,000 per year.

We should encourage people who have been in trouble with drugs to move
beyond their past mistakes, but the HEA Drug Provision prevents them from
getting their lives back on track.

Graduating more college students means greater economic productivity and
increased tax revenue, while locking up more inmates means taxpayers must
pay for skyrocketing prison costs. Keeping this policy on the books is
fiscally irresponsible.

One pending proposal to scale back the law would help some students get
back into school but would leave thousands behind.

The minor change would stop the provision from affecting people with
convictions in the past, but students busted while in school would continue
to lose their aid, leaving the fundamental problems with the law unaddressed.

Since there are already minimum grade requirements for receiving aid, the
partially reformed Drug Provision would still only affect students doing
well in classes. Good students would continue to be removed from school for
minor convictions, many never returning to finish their degrees. The
Department of Education reports that more than a third of students leaving
college before beginning their second year don't return within five years.

Partially reforming this fundamentally flawed law is like slapping a
band-aid on a gaping wound. Lawmakers should fully repeal the Drug
Provision and reinstate aid to all qualified individuals who want to earn a
college education.

Students who realize this policy is counterproductive and discriminatory
should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy and get involved in
efforts to take Drug War politics out of education.

Visit www.DAREgeneration.com or call (202) 293-4414 for more information.
More than 120 student governments have passed resolutions calling on
Congress to repeal the Drug Provision. What will you do to help overturn
this law?

It could be another seven years before Congress restructures the Higher
Education Act again. Concerned students and educators should urge their
legislators to take the lead in helping young people stay in school where
they belong.

If Congress doesn't act now, another 175,000 students could have the doors
to education slammed shut in their faces.

Tom Angell