'DRUG PROVISION' REMOVAL CALLED FOR

Terms Made More Than 157,000 Ineligible For Aid

A congressionally appointed committee called for the removal of a question
about drug convictions from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) known as the "drug provision," something the Students for Sensible
Drug Policy has been calling for since its enactment.

"Too many students have been turned away at the doors to higher education
because of this harmful policy," said Scarlett Swerdlow, executive director
of SSDP. "Denying education to young people caught with drugs does nothing
to help solve our nation's drug problems; it only makes them worse.
Congress should immediately adopt the committee's recommendation."

Added in 1998 as an amendment to the Higher Education Act, the so-called
drug provision (Section 484(r)) blocks college opportunities to students
revealing drug convictions on the FAFSA. It provides that a student's
eligibility for aid is suspended or revoked according to the schedule of
controlled substances.

To date, more than 157,000 financial aid applicants have been ineligible
for aid as a result of the drug provision, not including students who were
deterred from applying for aid in the first place because of any drug
convictions.

The proposal to remove the drug question comes from a report titled "The
Student Aid Gauntlet: Making Access to College Simple and Certain," and was
issued on Monday, Jan. 24 by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial
Assistance, an independent committee created by Congress to advise on
higher education and student aid policy.

The report characterizes the drug conviction question as "irrelevant" and
notes that its existence "... add(s) complexity to the form and can deter
some students from applying for financial aid."

Last year, a House of Representatives bill to reinstate aid to students
with drug convictions garnered 70 co-sponsors. A number of organizations
have endorsed the measure, including the National Association of Student
Financial Aid Administrators, the Association of Addiction Professionals,
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored and the National
Education Association.

"Over the years, many organizations have called for this provision to be
repealed," said Tom Angell, communications director of SSDP. "We're
particularly encouraged by this development because it seems to be the
first time an entity of the federal government agrees with us that this
provision is irrelevant for determining financial aid and should be repealed."

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an organization with more than 100
college and high school chapters nationwide, is committed to providing
education on harms caused by the war on drugs, working to involve youth in
the political process and promoting an open, honest and rational discussion
of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems.

Angell said this is SSDP's biggest victory in a while. However, it remains
to be seen whether or not Congress is going to follow the recommendation of
its own committee.