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Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students

By TChris, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 02:08:25 PM EST
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by TChris

What a waste.

More than 31,000 California college students forfeited their shot at federal financial aid because of past drug convictions, newly released records show.

Why should a drug conviction prevent students from obtaining the financial assistance they need to improve their educations? Shouldn't society try to help them gain the tools they need to live productive lives?

While Congress recently "softened" the law, it should be jettisoned altogether.

Students are potentially denied aid under a 1998 provision written by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind. Passed with scant discussion, the provision denied federal loans to any student who had been convicted of selling or possessing drugs.

"We have a major crisis in this country," Souder said on the House floor at the time, "and the question is, are we serious about it or not."

Under the original provision, students lost out on federal aid for one year if they have one conviction for drug possession. They lost out for two years if they have one conviction for drug selling. Drug convictions are the only kind that hurt a student. A student could be convicted, for instance, of vehicular manslaughter while driving intoxicated and not lose a loan.

Nationwide, 189,065 students have been denied aid for drug violations since 2000. The state-by-state numbers were hidden away until Angell's organization filed a freedom-of-information request, and then sued the Education Department after officials demanded $4,000 in fees. The department subsequently relented.

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    Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students | 18 comments (18 topical)
    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 03:50:36 PM EST
    Yeah, lemme tell ya, I'm sure if you asked Americans what this country needs, #1 would be uneducated drug users.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#2)
    by Steven Sanderson on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 05:12:24 PM EST
    If conservatives continue restricting access to higher education to the point that only wealthy brats receive it, they'll never have to face questions about whatever happened to the high-paying, high-tech jobs that the American worker has been repeatedly assured are just over the horizon. Without an educated, skilled workforce there'll be no need for those middle class jobs. And besides, ignorance is good, good for exploitative purposes, good for keeping costs down and maximizing profits, and good for maintaining the staus quo of wealth and power distribution. Ignorance is also a great asset in controlling large segments of our citizens.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#3)
    by john horse on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 05:25:49 PM EST
    Talk about coincidences. Slate ran an article about this subject just this week, entitled A Lie College Students Might Want To Tell. According to this article,
    On their financial-aid applications, students are asked to check a box if they've been convicted of selling or possessing drugs. But the department has no way to verify students' answers. Officials can cross-check the answers with federal arrest records, but they make up a very small percentage of all drug convictions.


    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#4)
    by Pete Guither on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 07:03:42 PM EST
    189,065 is a lot more than 100,000. Here's the state by state breakdown, via the Slate article. Additionally, a post on this subject is not really complete without a link to Students for Sensible Drug Policy who have been doing all the heavy lifting on fighting this travesty, and who filed the lawsuit that got us this information.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 07:21:54 PM EST
    Yeah, lemme tell ya, I'm sure if you asked Americans what this country needs, #1 would be uneducated drug users. Yes, that's exactly right, the number of prison vegetable pickers rises with the number of uneducated drug users.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 15, 2006 at 09:44:32 PM EST
    For the record, this is an example of the punitive consequences of drug use that I do not approve of. Restricting access to education, it seems to me, can never be the solution to any problem.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 08:32:10 AM EST
    The right wing goal is to make all who need financial aid ineligible. As it is, families who don't have 2 nickels to squeeze togther still can't seem to qualify. Eliminate a few hundred thousand more with the drug conviction provision and abra cadabra.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 08:58:27 AM EST
    Restricting access to education, it seems to me, can never be the solution to any problem. With all due respect, access to education is not be restricted with this law; access to federal assistance in funding for education is. We may both disagree this law. We may both feel it's a stupid waste of effort. But that's no reason to cloud the issue with overlu broad descriptives of what it does. (And now for the inevitable flames from Charlie, Jondee, and Che...)

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 09:11:08 AM EST
    Be careful what you pray for, jp. Clearly, someone, somewhere, for whatever reason, restricted your access to education.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#10)
    by HK on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 10:44:18 AM EST
    jp, although technically you are right, your point is just splitting hairs. To many, restricting federal assistance in funding for education is the same as restricting access to education. It is you who is clouding the issue. Elitism in higher education is happening in the UK too with the cost rising too high for many to contemplate taking that path. I still have student debts almost ten years on. Both the US and the UK seem to be regressing in this respect. This level of education that people fought hard for decades to make open to all is being whittled away. This law is just another nonsensical obstacle in the way of education that everybody should be entitled to.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#11)
    by squeaky on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 10:59:36 AM EST
    HK-not to mention that the arrests are far from equally distributed along class and race lines. The statistics of drug use along those lines are way out of sync with those arrested. I was once told to 'move on', 'do not do that here', by a benevolent PO. Were my skin not lilly white, I too would have been a statistic.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#12)
    by HK on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 12:09:20 PM EST
    Too true, Squeaky. And even if those with wealthy parents with prominent social standing were subject to the same treatment, it wouldn't matter as they don't need financial aid anyway. Check out this interesting article discussing the subject of sanctions for drugs use.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 01:58:04 PM EST
    If State legislatures set tuition rates at taxpayer funded schools prohibitively high and our Federal government reduces aid concurrently, then that is ACTIVELY restricting access to education. Those same people that can't afford to attend school pay taxes that subsidize the education of those that can afford to do so. But then, an Aristocrat like you (JustPaul) would probably prefer that all Universities be Private. You know, just to ensure that only the most wealthy and entitled can obtain higher education.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#14)
    by squeaky on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 02:05:20 PM EST
    Tampa Student
    But then, an Aristocrat like you (JustPaul) would probably prefer that all Universities be Private.
    Aristocrats have done bad things, but I think that our friend JP belongs to that class of Aristo wannabes that wreak far more havok than aristocrats ever did, hoping to be accepted into the 'club'.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 04:36:35 PM EST
    Posted by Squeaky April 16, 2006 03:05 PM
    Aristocrats have done bad things, but I think that our friend JP belongs to that class of Aristo wannabes that wreak far more havok than aristocrats ever did, hoping to be accepted into the 'club'.
    Oh, I don't know, squeak. Take the legacy program at Ivy League Institutions like, oh, Yale, for instance, that for decades has taken the shall we say, idiot sons and daughters of rich alumni over more deserving candidates. A de facto affirmative action for rich white trash if you will. For example, one student comes to mind a 1964 Graduate of Phillips Andover, a prestigious New England Prep School. Oh, he hadn't deserved to go there, either, but his father had attended, and that's the way the game is played in those Ivy Covered Halls of Hypocrisy, so that was step one. Step two, was Yale. Daddy was a Congressman and Granddad had been a Senator, so, you want that wing, GW's part of the deal. He's your moron now. Try to make him presentable, will you?

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#16)
    by jondee on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 04:49:36 PM EST
    Kiss up and kick down. It has its short term survival advantages. Take a look at any pack of wild dogs.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#17)
    by jondee on Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 04:54:26 PM EST
    At least they have a good excuse.

    Re: Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students (none / 0) (#18)
    by SeeEmDee on Mon Apr 17, 2006 at 06:39:29 AM EST
    The big question I have is: Why did it take a lawsuit to pry this data loose from Uncle's grasp? The ostensible reason given - that the SSDP might use it in 'furthering the sale of illegal drugs', or some such claptrap - was laughable from the get-go. Why was the government so intent on not letting the average voter know how many potential candidates fro financial aid were excluded thanks to Souder's Law?

    Drug War Harms More Than 100,000 Students | 18 comments (18 topical)