Dare Generation Diary

Of course, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) has consistently supported ending drug prohibition over the years, but my searches failed to turn up a specific call for regulating marijuana from the well of the House. Rep. Paul was one of the handful of members who voted against the resolution that Polis opposed. (I welcome any corrections from nerds who are good at searching the Congressional Record if I am wrong about Dr. Paul previously making a similar speech from the House floor.)

Rep. Lamar Smith from Texas on Fox News recently criticized the Obama administration's approach to marijuana and wants stricter drug law enforcement. Rep. Smith recently introduced H.R 5231, a bill would criminalize Americans working in Switzerland trying to save lives with heroin assisted treatment, for example.

“Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas), the top Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee who would likely become chairman of the committee under a GOP majority, accused the administration of being too lax in its enforcement of drug laws.

"The administration is clearly sending the message that they don't think it's bad to use marijuana," Smith said on Fox News. "So they're encouraging the use of marijuana. And that simply is not a good thing to do."

Smith blamed the administration's decision to not enforce federal laws against marijuana dispensaries in states that have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes. Smith blamed the administration's approach on drug laws for recent statistics showing an increased use of marijuana.

"We ought to be enforcing our drug laws, not backing away from them," said Smith, who also lamented a recent revision of criminal sentencing guidelines that reduced sentencing guidelines for crack-cocaine traffickers.”

Possibly Rep. Smith is referring to the 1,663,582 total arrests for drug abuse violations in the US in 2009, with someone being arrested for a drug offense every 18 seconds as being too lax. Maybe he’s referring to these ‘non-enforcements’, this ‘non-enforcement’, or possibly this ‘non-enforcement of federal drug laws as being too lax. After all, President Obama promised those raids would end while he was campaigning, and he gave respectful and thoughtful consideration to a question about the legalization of marijuana.

You know what? I did something about it. I took a total of 1 minute and 23 seconds out of my day to call Speaker Pelosi’s office urging her to cancel the vote on H.R 5231, a bill sponsored by Rep. Smith. I registered to vote when I received my driver’s license, which took all the effort of answering a few questions.

We can either stand by idly and watch our friends, neighbors, brothers and sisters be thrown into the back of a police cruiser after having their door smashed down in the middle of the night or we can take a stand and vote. Why should those who seek to criminalize non-violent, consensual behavior be allowed to impose their morals on us then utilize our money to do so in the most violent manner possible?

Register to vote, make a difference in your community.

After a full 10 years of contacting representatives, gathering signatures, writing articles, and spreading the outrage, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, along with hundreds of supporting organizations was sure their determined efforts would finally pay off and that Congressional leadership would follow through with their pledge to repeal the counterproductive Aid Elimination Penalty of the Higher Education Act. However, we have yet again been terribly deceived.

If you’ve ever wondered why you’re asked about drug offenses when applying for federal financial aid through FAFSA, thank Representative Mark Souder (R-IN), who somehow managed to slip the AEP into the Higher Education Act in 1998 without any debate or vote. Since then, this amendment has denied over 200,000 students federal financial aid, and in turn access to education. While we assume the reasoning behind Souder’s action was that he thought it would decrease drug abuse, it’s done the exact opposite by forcing students to drop out of school, therefore increasing their risk of drug abuse and criminal activity.

Regardless of the penalty's intentions, it has blatantly attacked hard-working students, people of color, and the lower and middle class. Since the FAFSA already requires satisfactory academic progress in order for a student to be eligible for federal financial aid, the AEP only affects hard-working students who have been doing well in school. While African-Americans make up a fairly small portion of the population, racial profiling leads to an absurdly disproportionate higher number of African-Americans arrested for drug offenses. And since middle and lower class families are depending solely on financial aid, it’s easy to see why wealthy families may not be too concerned.

Many members of Congress who were on our side initially have informed us that they became terrified of facing negative attacks, fearing they’d be labeled as “pro-drug”. In reality,it is precisely the Aid Elimination Penalty they are supporting that continues to increase drug abuse and decrease education. Anybody who is against racial profiling, increasing drug abuse, and decreasing education should be against this penalty. Please fill out this pre-written letter and demand an explanation from your local legislators! Unless they hear from their constituents, they won’t realize what their people want and will continue to follow their misguided instincts.