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07-23-2005, 10:30 AM #4
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smoking on college campus
U.S. House Committee Scales Back Drug Law
Originally Posted by fightingcock777
Some Students Denied Financial Aid Could Regain Eligibility
But Tens of Thousands Will Still Be Left Behind
WASHINGTON, DC * A U.S. House committee voted today to scale back the
provision of the Higher Education Act that denies federal financial aid to
students with drug convictions. The change will allow students with past
convictions to receive aid, but students convicted while in college will
still be stripped of their aid eligibility. While the partial reform to the
HEA Drug Provision could help some of the more than 160,500 students
affected by the law, many will still be left behind without aid. The Drug
Provision was originally enacted in 1998.
An amendment to scrap the provision entirely, sponsored by Reps. Danny Davis
(D-IL), Rob Andrews (D-NJ), and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), failed by a
committee vote of 29-18.
³After seven years of political rhetoric and empty promises, Congress is
finally acting to help some students affected by this terrible policy,² said
Scarlett Swerdlow, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy
(SSDP). ³But this partial reform is like slapping a band-aid on a gaping
wound. Tens of thousands of students will continue to be yanked out of
school every year. Students around the country are outraged and will
continue to work against this misguided policy as long as it remains on the
books.²
Language revising the HEA Drug Provision is included in H.R. 609, the
College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005, which the House Education &
Workforce Committee approved today. A bill to completely repeal the
provision and reinstate aid to all affected students, the Removing
Impediments to Students¹ Education (RISE) Act, H.R. 1184, currently has 70
co-sponsors.
In January, the congressionally-created Advisory Committee on Student
Financial Assistance recommended that the drug conviction question be
completely removed from the financial aid application, calling it
³irrelevant² to aid eligibility. The committee also stated that the drug
question¹s mere presence on the form deters some students from applying.
Under the change approved today, aid applicants will still have to answer a
drug question.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an organization with more than 115
college and high school chapters nationwide, is part of a coalition
supported by more than 240 education, addiction recovery, criminal justice,
civil rights, and religious organizations seeking the full repeal of the HEA
Drug Provision. For a full list, see
www.raiseyourvoice.com/supporters.shtml.
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