Student group seeks campus drug policy reform
Alicia Johnson
Issue date: 9/24/09 Section: News
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Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international grass-roots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, according to its site's mission statement - it has been active on SJSU's campus since Spring '09.
The group's goal is to spread awareness on the failed drug policies in the U.S., and to help students and minorities, who are affected by drug policies, said Alexander Woon, founder of the SJSU chapter.
In the past 11 years, 200,000 students were denied financial assistance in the United States, Woon said.
"It was unfair that rapists and murderers were able to get financial aid - it's pretty ridiculous," Woon said. "I'm tired of the amount of money that we're spending each year on the war on drugs. We're spending over $50 billion a year fighting this - federally and locally."
According to the group's Web site, convicted murderers and rapists are eligible to continue receiving federal student loans and grants.
Kamal Boparai, a senior finance student and group treasurer, said students should care about Students for Sensible Drug Policy because federal funds affect them.
Before Student for Sensible Drug Policy, students who had marijuana convictions were disqualified from receiving Federal Student Aid.
Thursday, Congress voted "on an amendment that would continue the harmful practice of denying financial aid to students with drug convictions," according to the group's Web site.
The aid elimination penalty was added as an amendment to the Higher Education act in 1998, according to the site.
"We made phone calls to our representatives, and we got it passed," Boparai said. So at least people who were caught with marijuana are no longer disqualified from financial aid, but people who are selling marijuana are still (disqualified)."
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