Coalition to lobby for law change

In response to recent stories concerning the drug histories of two Indiana gubernatorial candidates, a national coalition based in Washington, D.C., is calling upon Gov. Joe Kernan and Mitch Daniels to support a full repeal of the Higher Education Act drug provision.\nThe federal provision, authored by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., suspends federal student aid eligibility for students convicted under federal or state law of possession or sale of drugs, not including alcohol and tobacco.\nBoth Kernan, the incumbent Democratic governor, and Daniels, his Republican challenger, have acknowledged past use of marijuana.\nScott Ehlers, outreach director at the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform, said many students don't understand the law or don't want to admit they have a drug offense. Ehlers said he believes both Kernan and Daniels have a duty to help repeal the law, giving students a second chance. \n"Annually 30,000 to 40,000 students can be affected," Ehlers said. "There are also an unknown number of students who are not applying for financial aid because they believe they are ineligible, and it dissuades them from applying for the application process."\nQuestion 31 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form asks whether an applicant has ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs. \nEhlers said if the answer to question 31 is yes, applicants have to go through a separate form that then determines if the person is eligible for financial aid. \n"A lot of things can determine that," Ehlers said. "How many offenses, how long ago, what types of offenses."\nEhlers said many factors determine eligibility, including the number of convictions, whether the student was charged with dealing the drugs, and whether the student completes an approved drug treatment program and at least two drug tests.\nThe form does not count convictions that occurred before the applicant was 18 -- unless the applicant was tried as an adult -- or convictions that have been removed from the applicant's record.\nIn 1970, when Daniels was 21, he and two others were arrested in a Princeton dorm room. Daniels was eventually indicted for possession and maintaining a nuisance, otherwise known as allowing the use or sale of drugs. Prosecutors later dropped the charges, and Daniels pleaded guilty to a disorderly person charge. He was fined $350.\nEllen Whitt, deputy campaign manager for Daniels, said the offense was an expugnable conviction in New Jersey, though Daniels never had it expunged from his record.\nTina Noel, Kernan's campaign spokeswoman, told The Associated Press earlier this month the governor had used marijuana "a few times in his younger days" but that it was the only illegal drug Kernan had used.\nEhlers wants both candidates to use their past history to help current students.\n"Both of them could call on Rep. Souder and President Bush to both support the repealing of this law so that the college students today get the same second chance Mitch Daniels received in 1970," Ehlers said.\nIf not repealed, Ehlers said both of them could support a state law that gives financial aid to Indiana students who have lost it because of a drug conviction.\nBut Whitt said Daniels' circumstance in terms of financial aid did not involve federal financial aid. Daniels was at school on academic scholarship and worked jobs to earn money, she said.\nCiting other restrictions on federal aid, Whitt said she spoke with Daniels, who said he wouldn't be pushing for a repeal of the provision. With regard to state law, she didn't believe he would push for recompense assistance at the state level.\n"He believes in rules and limits and consequences, particularly when tax payers are providing aid to citizens, so long as those are reasonable and the conditions are made clear in advance," Whitt said.\nThe Kernan campaign did not return phone calls or e-mails during the weekend.\n-- Contact senior writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.