Eliminate Education Penalty for Drug Convictions

Remember the Aid Elimination Penalty of the Higher Education Act we’ve been
talking about? It’s the federal law that denies student loans and other
education assistance to students convicted of a drug law violation. Tens of
thousands of students have been kicked out of college because of it, mostly for
simple possession of marijuana. Momentum is building to repeal this unfair law
this year, but we need your help.

A few months ago, Rep. Barney Frank (MA) introduced legislation (H.R. 5157) to
repeal the Aid Elimination Penalty. It now has 80 co-sponsors, more than enough
to show House leadership that there’s support for ending the draconian penalty
this year.

On the Senate side, Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT) has introduced legislation (S.
2767) that would give judges the option of letting students keep their school
loans as part of a sentencing agreement that ensures they finish college. If
enough senators co-sponsor S. 2767 we believe we can pass it this year–and
that’s where you come in. 

Please take a few minutes today to call your two U.S. senators and urge them to
co-sponsor S. 2767:
http://dpa.convio.net/site/R?i=QIjMI5EYcVIAa9afMmDUDg..

Phone calls will make the biggest impact in this campaign. But if you can’t
call, you can look up the email addresses and fax numbers for your two U.S.
senators at http://dpa.convio.net/site/R?i=IActppthFoKfsWv4cvOTgw.. .

It is vital that all members of Congress–Democrats and Republicans–hear from
you. Congress needs to know that the American people want this law repealed.
People shouldn’t be discriminated against simply for what they choose to put
into their own bodies absent harm to others, and people convicted of drug law
violations shouldn’t be denied opportunities to finish school and put their
lives back together.

Thank you,

Bill Piper
Director of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance

More Information:

In 1998, Congress passed an amendment offered by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) to the
Higher Education Act (HEA) that bars people with drug law convictions–no matter
how minor–from receiving student
financial assistance for specified periods of time (a year to life depending on
the severity and number of drug law violations). More than 200,000 people have
been denied student loans and other assistance because of the law.

In 2006, Congress passed a partial reform of the penalty. This change amended
the HEA to allow some students with past offenses to receive aid, but it still
retains the penalty for those whose offenses were committed while they were
enrolled in school and receiving aid. In other words, tens of thousands of
students are still being kicked out of college for minor drug law offenses like
simple marijuana possession.

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