Current law does not allow persons convicted
of any drug related crime (including marijuana
use) to obtain federal student loans. This
law appears to have been designed to impose restrictions
based upon race and socio-economic status and
to severely curtail the ability of targeted
races and the poor from obtaining higher education.
Repeal this misguided restriction. Marijuana
use is now legal in two states and decriminalized
in 19 states, yet anyone convicted of marijuana
use is BARRED from obtaining federally funded
student loans. It has been shown that suspicion,
arrest and convictions closely follow racial and
socio-economic lines. The restriction on obtaining
federally funded student loans is unfairly placed
upon the persons these loans are supposed to aid.