"This law doesn't deter drug use. It deters education," said Adam Wolf, an attorney with the ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project in Santa Cruz. "Funding education is one of the smartest uses of tax dollars.
If students stay in college, they have a far greater chance of becoming productive, tax-paying members of society."
The law is unconstitutional, Wolf argues, because students with drug convictions have already been punished for their crimes and because it irrationally penalizes drug convictions but not other crimes, such as shoplifting or drunk driving. The government has yet to respond to the suit.
One of the suit's three plaintiffs is Kraig Selken, 21, a fourth-year student at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.
The history major receives roughly $3,500 per year in federal loans to pay his tuition.
In October, Selken and two roommates were convicted of possessing fewer than 2 ounces of marijuana. Selken pleaded guilty, served three days in jail and paid a $250 fine.
He contacted the ACLU after learning that the conviction would disqualify him from receiving aid next year. Selken also could be forced to return aid from the current school year.
Selken's father is a truck driver; his mother drives a school bus. They can't afford to help him pay for school, so Selken recently started working a second job in case his loans were revoked.
My parents "are definitely not paying for school," he said. "It's a matter of: I'm either finding enough money or I'm not going."
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Financial aid denial
A high percentage of students applying for college in California have been denied financial aid because of a drug conviction, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education.
Applicants denied federal financial aid because of drug convictions from the 2000-01 to 2006-07 school years
*--* Total aid Number denied One applicant State applicants financial aid denied per Indiana 1,778,982 8,903 200 California 8,794,431 31,830 278 Oregon 997,710 3,637 278 Washington 1,585,720 4,762 333 Rhode Island 274,167 807 345 Connecticut 804,589 2,242 357 N. Carolina 1,887,657 5,323 357 Texas 5,611,435 15,026 370 Arkansas 142,089 363 385 Iowa 915,034 2,367 385 Kentucky 1,060,042 2,782 385 Oklahoma 964,900 2,508 385 U.S. total 76,784,347 189,065 400
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NOTE: Only states with rates higher than the national average are shown
Source: Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. Graphics reporting by Seema Mehta
