Monday, July 18, 2005

HEA drug provision repeal - committee vote tomorrow Via DRCNet: On Tuesday, July 19, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce will be voting on H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ) will introduce a crucial amendment to H.R. 609 that would repeal the federal ban on financial aid for students with drug convictions. If passed, the Andrews amendment would fully repeal the HEA Drug Provision, which has denied aid to more than 160,500 students since taking effect in 2000. This is the second time in seven years and the first since May 2000 that a House committee will be forced to reconsider the law. Other proposals have suggested that the law only be scaled back, meaning thousands of students would still lose their financial aid. If your member of Congress is on the Committee for Education and the Workforce, please call him or her today! Members, the areas they represent, and their phone numbers are all listed below. Education and the Workforce: Republican Members (27) John, A. Boehner, 8th-OH (Westchester/Troy Area) 202-225-6205 Thomas E. Petri, 6th-WI (Fond du Lac/Oshkosh Area) 202-225-2476 Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, 25th-CA (Santa Clarita/Palmdale Area) 202-225-1956 Michael N. Castle, At Large-DE 202-225-4165 Sam Johnson, 3rd-TX (Richardson Area) 202-225-4201 Mark E. Souder, 3rd-IN (Fort Wayne Area) 202-225-4436 Charlie Norwood, 9th-GA (Augusta/Toccoa Area) 202-225-4101 Vernon J. Ehlers, 3rd-MI (Grand Rapids Area) 202-225-3831 Judy Biggert, 13th-IL (Willowbrook Area) 202-225-3515 Todd Russell Platts, 19th-PA (York/Carlisle/Gettysburg Area) 202-225-5836 Patrick J. Tiberi, 12th-OH (Columbus Area) 202-225-5355 Ric Keller, 8th-FL (Orlando/Eustis/Ocala Area) 202-225-2176 Tom Osborne, 3rd-NE (Grand Island/Scottsbluff/Kearney/McCook Area) 202-225-6435 Joe Wilson, 2nd-SC (Beaufort/West Columbia) 202-225-2452 Jon C. Porter, 3rd-NV (Henderson Area) 202-225-3252 John Kline, 2nd-MN (Burnsville Area) 202-225-2271 Marilyn N. Musgrave, 4th-CO (Loveland/Sterlin/Greeley/Longmont Area) 202-225-4676 Bob Inglis, 4th-SC (Greenville/Spartanburg/Union Area) 202-225-6030 Cathy McMorris, 5th-WA (Spokane.Colville.Walla Walla Area) 202-225-2006 Kenny Marchant, 24th-TX (Irving Area) 202-225-6605 Tom Price, 6th-GA (Marietta Area) 202-225-4501 Luis G. Fortuño, At Large-PR 202-225-2615 Bobby Jindal, 1st-LA (Metairie Area) 202-225-3015 Charles W. Boustany, Jr., 7th-LA (Lafayette Area) 202-225-2031 Virginia Foxx, 5th-NC (Clemmons Area) 202-225-2071 Thelma D. Drake, 2nd-VA (Virginia Beach/Accomac Area) 202-225-4215 John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr., 29th-NY (Corning Area) 202-225-3161 Democrat Members (22) George Miller, 7th-CA (Concord/Richmond/Vallejo Area) 202-228-2095 Dale E. Kildee, 5th-MI (Flint/Saginaw/Bay City Area) 202-225-3611 Major R. Owens, 11th-NY (Brooklyn Area) 202-225-6231 Donald M. Payne, 10th-NJ (Newark/Elizabeth/Jersey City Area) 202-225-3436 Robert E. Andrews, 1st-NJ (Haddon Heights/Woodbury Area) 202-225-6501 Robert C. Scott, 3rd-VA (Newport News/Richmond Area) 202-225-8351 Lynn C. Woolsey, 6th-CA (Santa Rosa/San Rafael Area) 202-225-5161 Rubén Hinojosa, 15th-TX (McAllen/Beeville Area) 202-225-2531 Carolyn McCarthy, 4th-NY (Garden City Area) 202-225-5516 John F. Tierney, 6th-MA (Peabody/Lynn Area) 202-225-8020 Ron Kind, 3rd-WI (LaCrosse/Eau Claire Area) 202-225-5506 Dennis J. Kucinich, 10th-OH (Lakewood/Parma Area) 202-225-5871 David Wu, 1st-OR (Portland Area) 202-225-0855 Rush D. Holt, 12th-NJ (West Windsor Area) 202-225-5801 Susan A. Davis, 53rd-CA (Sand Diego Area) 202-225-2040 Betty McCollum, 4th-MN (St. Paul Area) 202-225-6631 Danny K. Davis, 7th-IL (Chicago/Broadview Area) 202-225-5006 Raúl M. Grijalva, 7th-AZ (Tucson/Yuma Area) 202-225-2435 Chris Van Hollen, 8th-MD (Rockville/Mt. Rainier Area) 202-225-5341 Tim Ryan, 17th-OH (Youngstown/Warren/Akron Area) 202-225-5261 Timothy H. Bishop, 1st-NY (Coram/Southampton Area) 202-225-3826 John Barrow, 12th-GA (Athens Area) 202-225-2823 The wonderful folks at SSDP have been working extremely hard to get this bad law repealed completely. Help them out. If you are in the district of one of the representatives above, call them right now. You can also use this Action Alert. 1:13:07 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Just when I thought they couldn't get any more stupid... ... a prohibitionist like Joyce Nalepka opens her mouth. This is one of the most bizarre OpEds I've read recently: Joyce Nalepka: Don't swallow drug legalizers' lies in the Providence Journal. The article is clearly aimed at the medical marijuana bill that was overwhelmingly passed by the legislature in Rhode Island (and vetoed by the Governor -- we're still waiting on the House veto override vote). But since she can't really come up with strong enough arguments to counter medical marijuana, she apparently decides to throw in these completely unrelated stories: In Pennsylvania, a group of parents, neighbors, and friends gathered around a girl's gravesite one recent Sunday to sing "Happy Birthday." A sweet, caring high-school junior, she had died two years before of a heroin overdose. In Florida, little Jessica Lunsford also died because of drugs -- not her own drug use, but the crack use of an addict, who stole her from her bed in her grandmother's humble home and killed her. And this has what to do with medical marijuana in Rhode Island? (Additionally, I think you'd find that these instances were likely caused, or made worse, by prohibition.) In other atrocities, she compares medical marijuana to thalidomide(!) and claims legislators have been paid-off to support medical marijuana. Here's my favorite section: The campaign to get marijuana reclassified as "medicine" began in 1979. At the time, it was led by a group of admitted pot-smoking zealots with little money. They were mostly supported by the sale of drug paraphernalia, until parents united and closed the shops nationwide. Today, these zealots are older admitted drug users, with access to millions of dollars, provided by currency trader George Soros and Peter Lewis, founder of Progressive Insurance. At least 15 Rhode Island legislators received money from Peter Lewis, and one received $1,000 from a group called the Marijuana Policy Project. Nationwide, the two billionaires have contributed an estimated $40 million to challenging drug laws. Foes of this scam, for the most part, are using their grocery money to try to stop them before it's too late. It's all laughable, but I guess in part she's right. Prohibitionists ARE using their grocery money to fight drug reformers like me. And they're using my grocery money and your grocery money and the grocery money of just about everyone in this country. It's called taxes. And the ONDCP controls a whole lot of our grocery money to spread lies and propaganda like Joyce's. Much more money than any of the reform organizations. Look, Joyce is a nutcase. Fortunately her OpEd is strange enough that most discerning readers will see that her grasp on reality is shaky at best. Rhode Islanders won't be taken in by Nalepka. 9:45:54 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

I'm back... sort of. Sorry for the lack of postings, but I spent all last week working on the show. It's looking good and will be ready to open on Friday. I still have a lot to do this week on it, so I won't be fully up to speed here, but I'll be stopping in now and again. If you need to catch up, be sure to read Last One Speaks. Also, good recaps of last week and some great articles are available in these two weekly updates: The Drug War Chronicle Drug Sense Weekly They're always worth reading. 9:10:44 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []