Senate Relaxes Ban on Student Aid for Drug Offenders

<http://www.norml.org> Volume 8 Issue 49
December 22, 2005 <http://www.norml.org>norml.org


This Week's News from NORML

Senate Amends Ban On Student Aid For Marijuana Offenders

Student Drug Survey Highlights Drug War's Failings

Synthetic Cannabinoid Is Neuroprotective, Study Says

Senate Amends Ban On Student Aid For Marijuana Offenders

Washington, DC: The US Senate voted 51 to 50
yesterday in favor of legislation that would lift
the
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3903>ban
on federal aid to students who have a prior,
non-violent drug conviction. The Congressional
ban, known as the "drug offender exclusionary
provision" of the Higher Education Act, has
denied federal financial aid to some 175,000
students since its enactment in 1998.

Under the Senate provision, which was included in
Senate Bill 1932 (the budget reconciliation
bill), students with past drug convictions will
now be eligible to apply for federal financial
aid. However, students who are convicted of a
nonviolent drug offense, including minor
marijuana possession, while in college will
continue to be stripped of their federal aid
eligibility.

President Bush is anticipated to approve the
amendment, which would take effect in 2006.

"This partial reform by Congress is long overdue
and is a step in the right direction," said NORML
board member
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5091>Chris
Mulligan, campaign director for the
<http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/>Coalition for
Higher Education Act Reform (CHEAR). "Nonviolent,
minor marijuana offenders should not be singled
out and restricted from receiving college loans
over a joint."

Studies have shown that those convicted of crimes
are far less likely to be re-arrested after
having received two years of postsecondary
education, Mulligan noted. By contrast, students
forced to leave school after their first year are
unlikely to ever complete their education, he
said.

For more information, please contact
<mailto:director [at] norml.org>Allen St. Pierre,
NORML Executive Director, or
<mailto:kris [at] norml.org>Kris Krane, NORML
Associate Director, at (202) 483-5500.

Student Drug Survey Highlights Drug War's Failings

Washington, DC: Nearly half of all high school
seniors report having tried marijuana, and 86
percent say that cannabis is "very easy" or
"fairly easy to get," according to
<http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/>annual
government survey data released this week by the
University of Michigan. Both figures are nearly
identical to the percentages reported by the
government when it first began collecting data in
1975.

"The federal 'spin' on this data is that teen
marijuana use is falling due to the enactment of
government prohibitionist policies; however, the
reality is that - according to the government's
own data - teen use and access to cannabis is
virtually no different now than it was 30 years
ago," said NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul
Armentano.

According to the University of Michigan's annual
"Monitoring the Future" data, 47 percent of high
school seniors reported having used marijuana
and/or hashish in 1975. Today this figure stands
at 45 percent. Likewise, 89 percent of seniors
reported having access to pot in 1975 versus 86
percent today.

"In 1975, the federal government spent less than
a billion dollars annually on 'drug war' related
activities; today it spends over $20 billion,
including several hundred million per year on
advertising alone," Armentano said. "Yet neither
this massive increase in federal spending nor the
enforcement of criminal prohibition has done a
thing to curb adolescents' use of cannabis or
their access to the drug. Rather than stay the
course, government officials ought to take a page
from their more successful public health
campaigns to discourage drunk driving and
adolescent tobacco smoking - both of which have
been significantly reduced in recent years.

"Our nation has not achieved these results by
banning the use of alcohol and tobacco, or by
targeting and arresting adults who use these
products responsibly, but through honest, health
and science-based education campaigns. Until the
federal government applies these same
common-sense principles to the responsible use of
cannabis, America will be looking at another 30
years of failing pot policies."

For more information, please contact
<mailto:paul [at] norml.org>Paul Armentano, NORML
Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.

Synthetic Cannabinoid Is Neuroprotective, Study Says

Novato, CA: The administration of a synthetic
cannabinoid agonist protects neurons (nerve cells
from excitotoxic injury (cell death produced in
neurons by the overactivation of excitatory
neurotransmitter receptors) by as much as 65
percent, according to preclinical data published
in the November issue of the journal Molecular
Pharmacology.

The finding comes less than two months after a
Canadian research team reported that
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6701>cannabinoids
promote the proliferation of newborn neurons in
the rat brain.

Researchers have previously reported that
cannabinoids, including THC and cannabidiol
(CBD), are neuroprotective in animals against
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6538>brain
damage caused by alcohol and/or
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6548>stroke.

For more information, please contact
<mailto:paul [at] norml.org>Paul Armentano, NORML
Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full
text of the study, "Molecular mechanisms of
cannabinoid protection from neuronal
excitotoxicity," is available online at:
<http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/cgi/reprint/mol.105.016428v1>http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/cgi/reprint/mol.105.016428v1

<http://www.norml.org>NORML and the
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3380>NORML
Foundation: 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501,
Washington DC, 20006-2832
Tel: (202) 483-5500 • Fax: (202) 483-0057 •
Email: <mailto:norml [at] norml.org>norml [at] norml.org



<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3443>
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3443>Please Consider a
Year-End Gift


<http://www.google.com/u/norml?q=medical+marijuana&x=10&y=8>

<http://www.google.com/u/norml?q=medical+marijuana&x=10&y=8>Improved
Site Search at NORML


<https://secure.norml.org/normljoin.plx?item1=pldg001>

<https://secure.norml.org/normljoin.plx?item1=pldg001>Help NORML

<http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/>
<http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/>Take Action Now

More Info From NORML

<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516>Updated State Laws
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3418>FAQ's
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3375>Personal Use
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3376>Medical Use
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3377>Industrial Use
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3378>Legal Issues
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3445>Find A Lawyer
<http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5481>NORML in the Media

Other Ways to Help

<https://secure.norml.org/join/>Join NORML
<http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZnationalnorml>eBay Auctions
<http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/>Tell Congress
<http://www.cafepress.com/norml>Cafe Press Gear
<https://secure.norml.org/>Direct from NORML