STRONG SUPPORT FOR REPEAL OF DRUG LAW

WILL RHODE ISLAND'S REPS LISTEN?

The Higher Education Act drug provision denies or delays federal
financial aid for school to students with any drug conviction - even
possession of marijuana.

Since the law's inception in 1998, over 125,000 young people have been
turned away from school because of drug convictions.

While this policy may be intended to act as a deterrent for drug use,
it is inherently counterproductive. It is a sad fact that young people
sometimes make mistakes and get into trouble with drugs. When this
happens, the last thing we should do is close the doors of education
to them. The drug provision wrongly pushes people with convictions
back toward the streets, where they are more likely to continue their
involvement with drugs. Instead, these would-be students should be
welcomed into productive learning environments, like universities.

In addition to its inherent ineffectiveness, the HEA drug provision
has a racially discriminatory impact. African Americans comprise 13
percent of the population and proportionally represent 13 percent of
drug users - but they account for over 55 percent of drug convictions.
This means that the drug provision is keeping people of color out of
school at a higher rate than the rest of the population.

Furthermore, this fundamentally flawed law only affects people of
lower socioeconomic status. Students from well-to-do families can
usually afford access to higher education without financial aid (they
can also sometimes afford good lawyers to avoid convictions in the
first place).

Fortunately, there is a growing movement rising in opposition to the
blatantly misguided drug provision. Students for Sensible Drug Policy
(SSDP), an organization with 200 chapters nationwide, is leading the
campaign to push back the provision. SSDP is joined by organizations
like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,
United States Student Association, National Association of Student
Financial Aid Administrators, the American Civil Liberties Union and
the Association for Addiction Professionals.

This coalition of groups supports H.R. 685, a bill in the U.S. House
of Representatives that would repeal the HEA drug provision. The bill
currently has 62 cosponsors. Unfortunately, the list of sponsors does
not include Representatives James Langevin and Patrick Kennedy of
Rhode Island, who have thus far not taken a public position on this
important matter, despite strong statewide opposition to the drug provision.

As a result of SSDP's on-campus efforts, the URI Student Senate and
the Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students have joined
over 100 other student governments in passing resolutions expressing
opposition to the current policy. Last spring, the URI Faculty Senate
unanimously urged Langevin and Kennedy to cosponsor H.R. 685.

URI President Robert L. Carothers has also strongly advocated
repealing the drug provision. Carothers spoke at an SSDP press
conference in April and signed his name next to over 1,200 students,
professors and other concerned citizens on a petition in support of
H.R. 685.

It is imperative that Congressmen Langevin and Kennedy heed the calls
of Rhode Island's higher education community. Surely, these respected
elected officials won't be labeled as 'soft on drugs' for saying that
it's wrong to turn the war on drugs into a war on education. Please
visit www.raiseyourvoice.com to send a free fax urging them to support
H.R. 685.