New victims in the “war on drugs”

THE GREEK fraternity system isn't usually the target of drug busts by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

But on May 6, DEA agents arrested 75 San Diego State University (SDSU) students on a variety of drug charges in a sting operation dubbed "Operation Sudden Fall." Cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms and methamphetamine were reportedly seized.

It all started five months ago, when "youthful-looking" undercover officers started hanging out and partying at SDSU fraternity gatherings. But apparently, this wasn't enough to get the goods on the students, so the authorities turned to their tried-and-true--and, by the way, most unreliable--method of obtaining evidence to make arrests: snitches. Students who had gotten caught for a variety of minor infractions were coerced into informing on their frat-brother dealers.

It might be funny trying to imagine the DEA agents fitting in on Frat Row--if the consequences of the drug bust for the students and their families weren't so serious and life-long.

Student drug-dealing might come as a surprise to some, but the fact that many students use drugs, both legal and illegal, can't surprise anyone. Experimenting with drugs while in college is a rite-of-passage in American culture, and the majority of students who use alcohol and illegal drugs do no harm to themselves or others.

Not all drug use is abuse, and when most students graduate and enter the structured world of work and committed relationships, and have children, they decrease or eliminate their use of alcohol and illicit drugs. It's called "maturing out."

And contrary to the popular belief, "good students" use drugs, too. Among those arrested and facing charges at SDSU is a 19-year-old who was praised as a model student in a university publication. One student was months away from earning a master's degree in homeland security, and another was majoring in criminal justice. Draw your own conclusions, but I think this shows contempt for drug laws.

THE "WAR on drugs" campaign of the past several decades amounts to "just say no," zero-tolerance laws and social policies that serve only to criminalize, punish and incarcerate young adults, not decrease drug use.

In 1984, the federal government set the legal drinking age at 21. Overnight, 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds in states where they had been legal were turned into outlaws--because, of course, they continued to drink alcohol.

The federal government's own statistics acknowledge this. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that in 2005, 85 percent of 20-year-old Americans reported they had used alcohol. On college campuses, under-age students comprise about 75 percent of the undergraduate student body. They mix with older students at parties where alcohol is widely available. And they're not going to drink?

Just like during national prohibition in the 1920s, when all alcohol was made illegal, the laws have not stopped the consumption of alcohol, but rather forced it underground, into the realm of illegal activity. This is a dangerous set-up for binge drinking and overdose.

In fact, two students recently overdosed and died at SDSU. These tragic deaths might have been prevented if the students present knew the signs and symptoms of overdose and didn't fear prosecution by authorities if they called 911. Good Samaritan policies need to be put in place on every campus to protect students who call for help during an overdose emergency.

Instead, however, universities have enforced prohibitionist policies in dormitories and at campus social events. Students caught using drugs or alcohol in their rooms are evicted from student housing.

One of the most draconian laws is the Aid Elimination Penalty. It bars students with a drug conviction from receiving federal financial aid. In 1998, the Aid Elimination Penalty was slipped into the Higher Education Reauthorization Bill by Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.), without debate or a recorded vote. The result: to date, over 200,000 students have been denied federal loans, grants and work-study positions.

Poor and minority students are the hardest hit, because they are disproportionately convicted for drug offenses. Yet these students are often the most in need of financial aid.

Last year, the law was amended so that it now applies only to offenses committed while a student is in school and receiving financial aid. But last month, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court rejected an appeal by Students for Sensible Drug Policy to declare the law unconstitutional.

Drugs are here to stay, and students will continue to use them and engage in risky behavior. Prohibition won't stop this. Students--in collaboration with harm reduction educators--need to create a recreational drug culture that helps students be responsible and safe, and keeps them alive. That includes teaching students how to not use alcohol and drugs, and still have a good time.

Students need honest, science-based information about drugs: "Just say know." But drug education in the United States has got it all wrong. For over 20 years, what has been taught in schools is Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE). The curriculum is heavy on scare tactics and abstinence.

Since DARE began, studies have consistently shown that it has no significant effect on students' use of drugs. The General Accounting Office, a former surgeon general, and the National Academy of Sciences have all called DARE ineffective.

The students who were arrested at San Diego State are victims of the failed "war on drugs." It's the "war on drugs" that should be put on trial, not them.

If these students are convicted of felony drug charges, their lives will be damaged irrevocably. Young people just starting their lives will be discriminated against when they seek employment, banned entirely from holding certain jobs and lose the right to vote for a period of time. A felony conviction will haunt them wherever they go.

It's cruel and unusual punishment, and it has to stop.

But the students are fighting back. In response to the drug bust, students, parents and the organizations Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance organized a demonstration on SDSU campus. They set up a mock graduation ceremony with 77 empty chairs: 75 for the students who were arrested, and two for the students who died of overdoses.

We need more demonstrations that bring people together to protest the injustice, inhumanity and racism of the "war on drugs." Until drugs are legalized, the drug war dragnet will continue to take more prisoners and destroy more lives.