“It emphasizes what society deems is appropriate behavior,” says Johnson. “We’ve said drug use is a bad thing, something we want to deter. This is no more discriminatory than the drug laws themselves.”
Student groups have lobbied Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., to sponsor a Senate bill to eliminate the law. In a statement, he said the current law as it stands is “a reasonable approach.”
The current law punishes students with one federal or state possession conviction with a year of lost aid. For a second offense, students lose two years of aid, and a third offense takes away the aid indefinitely. Students convicted of selling drugs lose two years of aid on the first offense, and are permanently ineligible after the second offense.
— Associated Press
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