LAW HURTS STUDENTS

Many students receive some form of federal financial aid to help pay
for their education. In 2004 alone, 10,351 students at SIUE received
some type of financial assistance. Sixty-nine percent of that money
came from federal financial aid programs. If you were declared
ineligible for financial aid, would you still be able to afford the
cost of higher education?

The Higher Education Act Drug Provision is a federal law that denies
financial aid eligibility to anyone convicted of a drug offense.
Since the law took effect in 2000, more than 160,000 students across
the nation have been denied federal financial aid.

The U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee recently rejected an
amendment to fully repeal the drug provision and reinstate financial
aid to all affected students.

For the first offense of possession of a controlled substance,
financial aid eligibility is suspended for a year. Let's be realistic
here. For better or worse, a fair number of college students use some
form of illegal substance. I would be willing to bet most of you know
someone who smokes pot. I'm not here to make a case for or against
the morality or legality of drug use. I'm saying that this law has
affected and will continue to affect a lot of students.

Nearly half of all drug arrests are for marijuana and 88 percent of
marijuana arrests are for possession, not for sale or intent to sell.
It really seems unfair to me to take away someone's financial aid for
minor possession charges. Many people would be forced to drop out for
a while if they had to pay for school from their own pocket. Odds
are, they might never make it back.

If someone has been convicted for possession, he or she has obviously
already faced the repercussions of the legal system. Does it make
sense to severely impair these people's ability to attend school and
thereby do a good thing for themselves and others?

Who usually faces the most severe penalties in such cases? The
students - or their parents - who cannot afford a lawyer and thus get
convicted of the offense? And who needs financial aid more?

A college education reduces crime rates, increases potential income
and gives students the opportunity to become contributing members of
society. Why take away someone's ability to obtain a degree?

This law is here to further Washington's so-called "war on drugs."
The law is intended to take financial aid away from college students
convicted of drug use and to discourage students from experimenting with drugs.

Sadly, the primary effect of the law is to deny financial aid for
college to those who need it the most.