WAR ON DRUGS

Editor:

I feel that it's insane to refuse financial aid to students caught smoking
marijuana. That should not stop anyone from getting an education. The
people running this country have or possibly still do smoke marijuana. Many
have had to receive drug or alcohol treatment. Why not ask them this: Do
they think they needed to serve long sentences for their crimes, and be
denied an education? Millions of people smoke marijuana, more than anyone
thinks: parents, grandparents, bosses, co-workers, and anyone in between. I
can safely say that every profession, every race, every group of people,
and even someone you know have or still do smoke marijuana.

Our government should not stop them from continuing with their lives.
However, they are willing to put an end to someone's new beginning of life.
Why punish someone who is trying to make a better life for themselves by
not giving them the chance to go to school because they have or do smoke
marijuana? What will happen in the long run is we will end up with poorer
and less educated people, sending them into a downward spiral. Once again,
the results are more harmful than good. This is working backwards and will
always have a negative effect on this nation.

We must stop the drug war! Open your eyes, look at our lives. This is not
the right decision to make to attempt to control the drug problem in this
country. It has and will only continue to create a bigger problem. Life is
full of crossroads and sometimes people take the wrong path. With this law
in effect you are forcing many Americans to take the wrong path, leading
them away from education, forcing them toward the path of the unknown,
which leads nowhere. Is this fair? This is not what this country was built
upon!

Jason Turuc, Schaumburg