SSDP FIGHTS DRUG POLICY

The Students for a Sensible Drug Policy Hope Chapter is beginning a
campaign that will attempt to give students with drug convictions access to
federal student aid by raising support for a bill known as H.R. 786 in the
U.S. House of Representatives. If passed the bill would repeal the
provision prohibiting persons convicted of drug offenses from receiving
student financial assistance. There were no restrictions prohibiting
students with drug convictions from receiving aid until 1998 when the
Souder Amendment was passed.

Harry Amaral, the Director of Enrollment Services at URI said, "You have to
look at both sides of the issue. The big issue is should taxpayer's money
be supporting students with drug convictions." Amaral said about the
University's stance on current drug reform policy is that, "we enforce the
law."

The original Higher Education Act (HEA) was signed into law in 1965 by
President Lyndon Johnson and opened the door to a college education for
students to whom it had previously been closed. It established federal
financial aid programs such as Perkins Loans, Pell Grants, Supplemental
Educational Opportunity Grants, PLUS Loans and Work-Study Programs.

The Act is periodically reviewed and updated by Congress to ensure adequate
funding and access to college for millions of Americans. The 1998 revision
to the Higher Education Act included a new provision that blocked college
opportunities to students with drug convictions on their Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

For the 2000-01 school year the Department of Education processed more than
9.3 million financial aid applications according to the Department's
website. Question number 35 on the FAFSA form asks applicants to indicate
whether they have ever been convicted of a drug charge. In the 2001-02
school year all 9,114 students who revealed drug convictions were denied
aid according to the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNET).

The final numbers from the Department of Education's annual report indicate
that a record number of students lost their full-year financial aid
eligibility during the 2001-02 school year. According to their yearly
report 47,730 students were formally denied aid for some or all of the
school year because of drug convictions. In the 2000-01 school year 8,056
students were denied aid under the Souder Amendment.

The dramatic increase in the number of applicants being denied aid last
year is the result of tighter enforcement of the existing law by the
federal government according to DRCNET. The Network's website revealed
that, during 2000-01, the 279,044 applicants who refused to answer the drug
question had their application processed, and 9,114 had their aid cut after
reporting a drug conviction. In 2001-02, and again this year, students who
do not answer the question will not have their application processed.

According to the Students for a Sensible Drug Policy supported website the
total number of students who will be denied aid in the 2002-03 school year
is 30,793. Adding that to the totals from the previous two years, 87,637
students have been denied financial aid since this law's enactment.

Ever since it was passed there has been growing opposition to the Souder
Amendment and action has been taken by many organizations like the American
Association of People with Disabilities, American Civil Liberties Union,
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), NAACP -
Youth and College Division, National Association for Public Health Policy
and colleges and universities like American University, Amherst College,
Brandeis College, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Rutgers
University, Georgetown University, George Washington University and
Hampshire College just to name a few.

Christina Bolender, a junior from Middletown, RI, said about the current
drug policy, "I think it seems extreme because it doesn't look like it
works in the real world. It sounds like a good idea on paper, like
communism, but it probably wouldn't work."

Gary Tougas, a sophomore from Mount Clair, Va, said current drug policy
isn't fair because, "everybody deserves a second chance."

Next week the University of Rhode Island's Students for a Sensible Drug
Policy Hope Chapter will be running booths and campaigning for signatures
to support endorsing the H.R 786 bill which repeals the prohibiting of
persons convicted of drug convictions form receiving financial aid. Their
hope is that URI will join forces with over 90 of the other colleges and
universities that support the bill.