The Oregonian today has an editorial about the HEA – the Higher Education Act – that disqualifies for consideration of federal student aid any student convicted of a drug possession offense.
(Oregonian) The federal application for college financial aid asks, “Have you ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs?”
The door should be cracked open. This fall, Congress should change the law so that no one loses financial aid because of old drug convictions. The idea has momentum in the House, and President Bush has said he supports it.
But despite lobbying from student groups and civil-rights organizations, the law shouldn’t be fully repealed. Students who use or sell drugs while in college should still face temporary or permanent loss of their federal aid.
…Under current law, people convicted of drug possession are ineligible for financial aid for one year after their first conviction, two years after the second and indefinitely after the third. People caught selling drugs lose eligibility for two years after the first conviction and indefinitely after the second.
…[I]t is unreasonable to expect federal taxpayers to subsidize the drug habits of college students. Those caught using or selling should be prepared to face the consequences.
Well, you know some inflammatory drug war commentary like that is bound to spur a letter to the editor from a certain Radical ORNORML Board Member…
I just read the editorial calling for college students to suffer the loss of student aid if they are convicted of a drug offense. Kudos to the editorial board for realizing that we taxpayers shouldn’t “subsidize the drug habits of college students”.
Oh, sure, we’ll still let convicted wife-beaters, child-abusers, and thieves continue to receive student aid. We’d like to see them get college educations and become productive members of society. But the joint-smoking college student, no, they should have to sit out of college for a year or two or forever.
Imagine how different history would’ve turned out had this law existed since 1960. Perhaps Bill Clinton would’ve lost his Rhodes scholarship when he “didn’t inhale”. Perhaps George W. Bush would’ve been kicked out of school during his period of “youthful indiscretions” (or not; he could afford college). Maybe then their college-aged marijuana use wouldn’t have ruined their lives.
Damn, it’s hard to write effective sarcasm with a 150-word limit!
Write to the Oregonian! Let them know how wrong it is that convicted murderers, rapists, wife-beaters, child-abusers, thieves, embezzlers, and any other criminal face no such restriction to their federal student aid, but pot smokers do! Here’s the information you need to write to them:
Send them to: Letters to the editor, The Oregonian, 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland, Or., 97201, or [email protected] via electronic mail. They may also be faxed to (503)294-4193.
Please limit letters to 150 words. Please include your full address and daytime phone number, for verification only. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
For more information about the HEA, check out:
If you need ammo for your Letter to the Editor, check out the HEA Info page.
Even more info avalaible at Students for Sensible Drug Policy
