call your senators

I still have the plant in my face. I can't bear to move. Mabybe I will allow it to grow around my computer. Grey Gardens.

Anyway. I have a bunch of stuff to work on, but here is an email from the Drug Policy Alliance- if you haven't heard of them you should check them out.



Remember the Aid Elimination Penalty of the Higher Education Act we’ve been talking about?

It’s the federal law that denies student loans and other education assistance to students convicted of a drug law violation. Tens of thousands of students have been kicked out of college because of it, mostly for simple possession of marijuana.

Momentum is building to repeal this unfair law this year, but we need your help. A few months ago, Rep. Barney Frank (MA) introduced legislation (H.R. 5157) to repeal the Aid Elimination Penalty. It now has 80 co-sponsors, more than enough to show House leadership that there’s support for ending the draconian penalty this year.

On the Senate side, Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT) has introduced legislation (S. 2767) that would give judges the option of letting students keep their school loans as part of a sentencing agreement that ensures they finish college. If enough senators co-sponsor S. 2767 we believe we can pass it this year--and that’s where you come in. Please take a few minutes today to call your two U.S. senators and urge them to co-sponsor S. 2767.

Phone calls will make the biggest impact in this campaign. But if you can't call, you can look up the email addresses and fax numbers for your two U.S. senators at http://www.senate.gov/ .
It is vital that all senators--Democrats and Republicans--hear from you. Congress needs to know that the American people want this law repealed. People shouldn't be discriminated against simply for what they choose to put into their own bodies absent harm to others, and people convicted of drug law violations shouldn’t be denied opportunities to finish school and put their lives back together.

Thank you,
Bill PiperDirector of National AffairsDrug Policy Alliance