Why is it when you fill out a FAFSA application do they ask if you were convicted of a drug offense?

Because our government is overly concerned with the War On Drugs? Because it’s a way for them to legally racially profile? Because sometimes, the person who creates these rules and forms is just as incompetent as the guy driving the green Suberu that just cut you off? Really, there’s no “good” answer that will make it all ok, it just is the way it is.

The question on the FAFSA regarding drug offenses asks about convictions for possessing or selling illegal drugs (not including alcohol and tobacco) if the offense occurred during a period of enrollment for which you were receiving federal student aid (grants, loans, and/or work-study). When answering this question, do not count convictions that have been removed from your record. Also, do not count convictions that occurred before you turned 18, unless you were tried as an adult. From the FAFSA website.

Because they don’t want druggies working for them.

@papayalily Well I am fully aware of “its just the way it is”. I was hoping for opinions on maybe why. You mentioned a few possibilties. I was aware of your bottom paragraph. I have filled out several of these forms myself.

@marinelife Why not the concern for other crimes? Why would you want a child molester, rapist, thief or fraudulent person working for you? Why the emphasis on drugs here? Most people who use drugs such as pot usually go on to better themselves to begin with. That didn’t answer my question.

@Jabe73 Because people who commit other types of crimes can go around the workplace and work without it interfering with their perceptions and actions.

Perhaps because FAFSA gives people money for school, and generally people that are on drugs are not very serious about their schooling. Also, it’s my understanding that most druggies don’t stop using just because they were convicted. Thus, the government could see it as a bad investment to help pay for the schooling of those who have been convicted of a drug offense.

Why all this talk about working for them. Isn’t FAFSA a student loan application?

Perhaps they prefer not to loan the money to students who may just use it to buy drugs.

@Jabe73 You’d really have to ask the law makers that passed it. I found this article, maybe it will shed some light?

http://campusprogress.org/articles/drug_provision_to_higher_ed_act_makes_college_aid_go_up_in_smoke/

@papayalily Thanks alot for that link. I have thought about this question for a long time and I always wanted to know the reasoning behind it.

@Ben_Dover Uh (I can’t believe you said that). You need cash to buy drugs. The loan goes directly to the school to pay your entire tuition off. You pay that back yourself (with added interest).

@marinelife Well say what you will but I still do not see the reasoning behind it. A former thief or crook is very likely to steal from their employers and co-workers. In fact I have seen this first hand on quite a few occasions (even in higher up management). A convicted rapist is very likely to prey on his co-workers despite this not affecting their “perception”.

There are so many things wrong with this stipulation I do not know where to begin. The above was just one of them. Another thing is that discouraging kids with minor drug offenses on their records from advancing themselves will surely not help them or society in the long run. There are very very very many people who have used some form of drugs in their past. Why should we be ruining peoples lives over this? Why the prejudice with this crime over the others? It seems like this law with be overturned in the very near future from what I have read about it (justifiably so) because it makes no sense.