Plainsman1963

Pot Citation May Not Mean Aid Exclusion
Municipal drug citations do not force students to identify as offenders on their FAFSAs
05-11-06 | DailyEmerald.Com | Ed Oser

University students applying for federal financial aid who have gotten in trouble with the law for marijuana face a quandary: How should they answer question 31 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which asks, “Have you ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs?”

What they should answer depends on whom you talk to.

People who have been cited for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in Eugene, Corvallis and some other cities may not be legally obligated to answer yes because they received municipal violations, not state or federal convictions, a Eugene police officer and a local attorney said.

The Emerald previously reported that students convicted for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana who answer yes to question 31 will lose their financial aid.

According to an April report released by Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, about 3,600 students from Oregon have answered yes to question 31 since 2000 and have been denied federal financial aid under an amendment to the federal Higher Education Act.

Ambiguity arises about what constitutes a state or federal conviction.

Oregon is 1 of 12 states that have decriminalized marijuana, meaning those caught possessing small amounts are treated similarly to people who get traffic violations, according The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Some cities, such as Eugene, have municipal codes separate from state laws that allow city police to ticket people caught with small amounts of marijuana. In Eugene, people caught with less than an ounce receive a $250 ticket.

Eugene Police Department Sgt. Mark Montes said unless someone has a medical marijuana card, possession becomes a crime when he or she has more than an ounce. Oregon law states that possession of less than an ounce is a violation punishable by a fine between $500-$1,000. Possession of more than an ounce is a Class B felony, and possession of less than an ounce in a public place within 1,000 feet of a school attended primarily by minors is a Class C misdemeanor.

It’s also a crime if they grow or sell any marijuana, Montes said.

Montes said possession of less than an ounce in Eugene is a violation that doesn’t fall under the parameters of state or federal drug crimes, adding that “students can answer no if you have a conviction that’s not a federal or state.”

“Things like that don’t go on your career criminal history,” Montes said. “You’re just gonna get a ticket. Big deal.”

Representatives from Eugene and Corvallis municipal courts confirmed that possession of less than an ounce in both cities is a municipal violation, not a state or a federal crime.

Director of ASUO Legal Services Ilona Koleszar said Eugene police officers can choose to cite those possessing less than an ounce under municipal laws or state laws.

Koleszar said it seems that municipal violations do not count toward a student losing his or her aid.

“Right now, we don’t have any precedent,” she said. “It could be that they intended to reach municipal courts.”

Koleszar said that most cities in states that have decriminalized marijuana use the state law as a penalty.

“Each municipality is allowed to adapt its own ordinance,” she said, adding that some choose not to.

Regardless of how lenient a state’s marijuana laws are, a person convicted under the state law will lose his or her eligibility for aid.

Koleszar also said bringing attention to the issue might spur the federal or municipal government into action that would make University students subject to harsher penalties

“When enough people find their way around (a law), that loophole closes,” Koleszar said.

“I’m mainly concerned about the rule morphing,” she said. “I just think it’s harsh.”

University Director of Student Financial Aid Elizabeth Bickford said the FAFSA provision only applies to students convicted of state or federal crimes but would not say definitively whether possession of less than an ounce as a city violation disqualifies a student.

“It really comes down to the individual situation,” she said.

Bickford said she did not have access to what types of convictions were and were not considered state or federal crimes.

“The individual should know whether they had a state or federal conviction,” she said. “Only he’s gonna know that answer.

“It’s hard to get the FAFSA form right, but there are questions that you know the answer to,” she said.

Bickford said that this year only two University students are ineligible to receive aid, and a third student is ineligible for part of the year because of drug convictions.

“Our focus is how to help students who find themselves in that situation to regain their eligibility,” she said. “The reality is it’s pretty clear what you need to do in order to get eligibility. There’s not really much of a gray area.”

Kevin Slimp, assistant city prosecutor for Omaha, Neb., said possession of less than an ounce is a state conviction.

“Everywhere I’ve seen, they’re done under the state statute,” Slimp said.

Craig Munier, director of scholarships and financial aid at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the way students should respond to question 31 “gets very complicated very quickly.”

“We’re not lawyers, so we don’t attempt to advise on that question,” he said.

Munier said eliminating students’ aid is mean-spirited and counterproductive because it punishes students for past mistakes. He said that no one wants to confront the law because no government officials want to appear to be in favor of drug felons.

Only one federal representative contacted by the Emerald commented on the issue, and none would say why municipal violations were not included in the law.

Ryan Taylor, spokesman for Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, wrote in an e-mail that “we’re not totally sure why municipal citations weren’t included.”

The original Aid Elimination Provision of the Higher Education Act, authored by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., and passed in 1998, barred all students convicted of any drug crimes from receiving financial aid.

Souder spokesman Martin Green previously told the Emerald that the law proved unenforceable because the Clinton administration misinterpreted it.

In February 2006, Congress changed the provision to apply only to students convicted while receiving aid. A later bill that would have eliminated the provision was sent to a subcommittee, where it remains.

Green did not return Emerald calls inquiring why the law does not include municipal citations.

Valerie Smith and Stephanie Babyak, two spokeswomen for the U.S. Department of Education, would not comment about how students should answer the question.

“Congress wrote the provisions in the law. The U.S. Department of Education merely implements the law as congress directs,” Babyak said.