Weed Watch

With college classes now in full swing, it's fitting to note that the U.S. Dept. of Education's latest statistics show that 30,000 students will not receive federal student aid for the 2002-03 school year, based solely on the 1998 Higher Education Act, which denies aid to students with any prior drug convictions. Since strict enforcement began in 2000, the HEA provisions have kept a total of 86,898 students from getting federal aid -- an "education disaster," say organizers for Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The latest statistics, SSDP National Director Shawn Heller says, "confirm that the punitive HEA drug provision remains the No. 1 obstacle for people seeking higher education." SSDP plans a fall full of civil disobedience at college campuses nationwide; for info, see www.ssdp.org.

Meanwhile, Michigan's "treatment not jail-- initiative was yanked from the ballot this month after the state Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that the ballot language didn't satisfy state requirements. "We lost a battle and the people of Michigan lost as well," said initiative spokeswoman Maia Storm. Trouble began when the Michigan Board of Canvassers questioned whether the initiative adequately addresses each portion of the state's constitution. Initiative supporters said the move was just the latest in a state-sponsored attempt to thwart voter will and force organizers to take their complaints to courtrooms packed with "Englerites" -- conservative judges appointed by Gov. John Engler, a staunch opponent of the initiative. "Everyone should be very upset by this maneuver," Storm told the DRCNet. "This is raw power politics being wielded to deny the people the chance to vote."

Also in Michigan, longtime U.S. Rep. John Conyers has lashed out at the Drug Enforcement Administration, asking for an immediate federal investigation into the agency and its administrator Asa Hutchison. The DEA has been breaking federal law by using government funds and time to lobby against various drug law reform initiatives across the country, Conyers says, including the Michigan initiative. Government agencies are prohibited from devoting taxpayer money and government time to such endeavors.

And from the Dept. of Draconian New Federal Laws comes the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act. Sponsored by U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., SB 2633 would extend the nets of Biden's earlier legislative successes -- including the infamous "crack house" laws of the Eighties -- to include any businessperson, club owner, or promoter on whose property or at whose events illicit drugs are either used or sold. The legislation is aimed at stomping out the rave scene, but drug reformers say the language targets "any controlled substance," potentially snaring smoke-in or hemp fests into the prosecutorial trap. The bill also applies to any use of property, no matter how "temporary," potentially including citizens who use drugs in their own homes. Under provisions of the bill, property owners, promoters, and event managers could face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or up to 20 years in federal prison. This month representatives from the ACLU, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and other drug reform groups took their complaints to the halls of Congress, where nearly 600 people turned out for a DJed rave dance rally against the bill. Participants filled out letters imploring legislators to kill the ill-conceived bill, which Biden plans to push through before Congress recesses in late October. For more, see www.drugpolicy.org.