Marijuana penalties affect college aid

SENATOR SCOTT Brown's legislation to introduce penalties for the personal possession of marijuana while in a vehicle is heavily flawed. His bill would not only be creating a fine 10 times larger than what 65 percent of state voters decided was appropriate last November, but also create a criminal penalty costing any university student receiving financial aid access to education.

Right now there is no criminal penalty for the personal possession of marijuana under 1 ounce, meaning students are not threatened with the loss of financial aid because of a civil citation. By creating a criminal penalty, any student caught with marijuana in the car, not necessarily smoking it, will lose access to federal financial aid because of the Higher Education Act Aid Elimination Penalty.

Creating roadblocks to education in the middle of an economic recession is a terrible strategy to solving substance abuse issues.

JIMI DEVINE
Lynn

The writer is on the national board of directors of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.