Department of Education (DOE) officials are preparing to reinterpret a 1998 law that threatens to bar federal loans to an estimated 34,000 students convicted of marijuana possession or other drug offenses, according to a report in Tuesday’s Chronicle of Higher Education.
The article states that the Bush administration is expected to issue new regulations limiting the ban to include only those students convicted of drug charges while receiving financial aid. Under the law’s present interpretation, financial aid applicants who have ever been convicted of a drug offense, including the misdemeanor possession of marijuana, are not eligible to receive federal grants, loans or work assistance. No other criminal convictions – including violent offenses – automatically disqualify applicants from student aid eligibility.
According to a source quoted in yesterday’s CHE, Congressman Mark Souder (R-Ind.), author of the 1998 amendment, and high-level DOE officials are close to an agreement that would reinterpret the law so that it will no longer be applied retroactively.
NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup said that new regulations would provide some relief to the thousands of convicted marijuana offenders currently affected by the ban, but will still unfairly deny access to college to thousands of students each year. Stroup said that a far better alternative would be for Congress to approve House Bill 786 repealing the ban.
The Associated Press reported in July that as many as 34,000 students could be denied financial aid this coming school year because of prior drug convictions. Last year, the DOE withheld aid from 8,100 students.
For more information, please contact Kris Krane of NORML at (202) 483-5500.
