Federal Government would rather have poor children become drug dealers than get an education.
One of the many stupid laws to be passed in the name of the war on drugs is the 1998 revision to the Higher Education Act, which included a new provision that blocked college opportunities to students revealing drug convictions on their Application for Federal Student Aid. If you’ve raped someone, it doesn’t affect your financial aid, but if you’ve had an arrest in your past for smoking a joint, forget about getting federal assistance. This, of course, doesn’t affect the children of congressmen — they can afford college without aid.
Apparently, nobody in Congress thought about the practical aspects. Imagine a promising boy who had some youthful indiscretions, including a bust for possessing a substance that is safer than what the congressman drinks at business lunches. The young person has paid the price for his indiscretion and now wants to make something of himself by going to college. “Sorry. No college for you.” So what does he do? No education. Not many jobs in his community except…
Anyway, Senator Kennedy is planning to soon introduce a bill to overturn this provision. He needs a Republican co-sponsor, and there are a few who could possibly be convinced. So if you live in the states of Senators Mike DeWine (OH), Jeff
Sessions (AL), John Warner (VA), Sam Brownback (KS), Lincoln Chafee (RI), Olympia Snowe (ME), or Arlen Specter (PA), click on their name to send a targeted letter to them.
For more information, and to write your representatives in general about the HEA, or sign the petition, go to Raise Your Voice.
Oh, and if you live in the district of Mark Souder (IN), who authored this piece of crap, vote him out.
By the way, I’m proud to say that my institution – Illinois State University – was one of the earliest to endorse a resolution calling for the repeal of this horrible provision.
- DrugWarRant.com, the longest running single-issue blog devoted to drug policy
Join us on Pete's couch.
Send comments, tips,
and suggestions to: Recent Comments
- Servetus on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “An evaluation prepared in Germany demonstrates that severe tobacco addiction can be medically treated using nicotine or the drug varenicline:…” Dec 1, 09:19
- Servetus on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “Cannabidiol (CBD) is investigated as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): 25-Nov-2024 – Current medical guidelines for ADHD…” Nov 26, 18:55
- Servetus on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “An ancient Egyptian mug was found by a USF professor to have once contained hallucinogens: 15-Nov-2024–A University of South Florida…” Nov 17, 20:11
- Shane from Slidell on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “Let us not forget that Joe Biden, the Landrieu Family, the late Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Connick, Sr.*, Leon…” Nov 17, 18:01
- Servetus on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “Endocannabinoid receptors on interneurons limit stress-induced bad memory generalization to the specific, appropriate memory: 15-Nov-2024 — Researchers at The Hospital…” Nov 16, 10:55
- rope fan on Marijuana potencies and transitioning to Schedule III: ““smoke rope instead of dope,” Is this a hemp revival?” Nov 15, 05:13
- Golda on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: ““Falsehoods are dangerous. People who believe absurdities can go on to commit atrocities. Catholicism and other sects and cults that…” Nov 15, 05:00
Pages
- About
- Articles
- A Day at the Museum
- A story for Thanksgiving (Isidro and Teresa Aviles)
- Andrea Barthwell, caught red-handed
- Andrea Barthwell, Snake Oil Salesman
- Bong Hits 4 Jesus – Supreme Court Case
- DEA Bad Girl Michele Leonhart
- Deep Thoughts About the Drug War
- Drug War Victims
- Drug War Videos
- Drug WarRant Joins SOPA, PIPA Protest
- Hammer Down, Pop Up
- If I were Contrarian-King of the United States
- Increase in Burger Abuse Seen
- Irvin Rosenfeld and the Compassionate IND — Medical Marijuana Proof and Government Lies
- Karen Tandy and the DEA (Can Congress Get a Clue?)
- Len Bias – the death that ushered in two decades of destruction
- Mother and Son
- Patriot Act, Victory Act, Despot Act
- Petition for Correction under the ONDCP Information Quality Guidelines
- Raich v. Ashcroft
- Rand and American Enterprise Institute Studies – Indictments of Federal Drug Policy
- the Drug Czar is Required by Law to Lie
- Treatment Statistics
- Who’s Who in Drug Prohibition
- Why is Marijuana Illegal?
Archives
Authors