December 21, 2001

By Angela Flores

Las Vegas City Life

The list of those negatively affected by what some UNLV students call the "insane" drug war is growing, as large numbers of young people are missing out on the opportunity for a higher education.

According to Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, a national organization trying to educate the public on the problems with the drug war, nearly 40,000 people will be denied the chance at a college education due to a 1998 law that excludes those with prior drug convictions from getting federal financial aid.

UNLV student representatives recently added their voice to the 69-member choir of college student governments nationwide, calling on Congress to strike down the law, which some say is unfair and discriminates against the poor.

"If you're wealthy and you get a drug conviction, your parents are still going to be able to pay your way through college," said Lewis Whitten, a SSDP national board of directors member. "If you're not wealthy - well things just got a little tougher for you, if they weren't tough enough already."

The controversial 1998 act makes a student ineligible for federal aid for one year after a conviction of any state or federal offense involving possession or sale of a controlled substance. The penalty is two years upon a second conviction, and a "three strikes" (i.e., "you're screwed") indefinite denial of aid goes into effect upon a third conviction.

During the debate at the UNLV student senate meeting Dec. 10, representative Jermaine Lloyd questioned student and local SSDP president Jesse L. Underwood regarding whether the group was concealing diabolical motives.

"I hope this is not a guise to advocate the legalization of marijuana, because I definitely don't support that," Lloyd said, pointing to an SSDP brochure containing instructions on how to roll a joint.

"Sure, I would like to see marijuana and some other drugs legalized, but this is not about that," said Whitten. "This is about education."

Legislation attempting to overturn the law, House Resolution 786, was introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., in February. Fifty-five congressional representatives have co-sponsored the resolution. One name absent from that list: Rep. Shelley Berkley.

Students were heartened by a letter from Berkley assuring that she will "follow this important issue." The letter continued, "Education is an important issue and all those who wish to become educated should have an opportunity to do so in order to improve themselves and their lives through learning."

But such rhetorical attempts at appeasement are not enough, students say. They want Berkley to co-sponsor the bill.

The main point of contention is question 35 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid - the tedious form students fill out to apply for federal grants and loans - which asks whether a student has been convicted of a drug offense. The nearly 300,000 applicants who refused to answer the question in 2000 had their aid processed anyway. Only during the Bush administration have students been forced to answer it.

"The 1998 resolution fell on students like a ton of bricks," said Steven Silverman, campus coordinator for the Drug Reform Coordination Network. "They couldn't believe it. They saw this as proof that the war on drugs was really a failure. It had another purpose - in this case, to deny access to education to needy students. The drug war was supposedly fought on behalf of young people, and now it's being used to punish us."

But will politicians, thought to be terribly out of touch with undergraduate-related issues, take notice of UNLV's student representatives? Some say yes.

"They're realizing that the students are dramatically opposed to this," said Silverman. "We're encouraging students to use the resolution as a golden ticket to appeal to higher level decision makers such as their chancellors, congressional representatives and senators ... to appeal to them and say, 'Hey, students overwhelmingly reject this.'"

Nevada recently altered its notoriously tough drug laws, making it a misdemeanor to have one ounce or less of marijuana in one's possession. However, the ban on federal aid applies to misdemeanors as well as felonies.