Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 1998
Date: March 5, 1998
Source: Calgary Herald (Canada)
Author: Timothy J. Meehan

Re: 'Police not turning other cheek to dope,' Calgary Herald, Feb. 28.

Staff Sgt. Gord Banack says that a conviction for a drug offense might
prevent young people from getting a student loan in Alberta.

When I read this, I was shocked, since it seems to me that not only is this
discriminatory but potentially infringes on an applicant's Charter rights.

So I asked a few questions and did some checking at the Alberta Students
Finance web page and asked some Alberta students if this was the case.
Banack is incorrect. As I suspected, the presence of a criminal record has
no bearing on a student loan application in Alberta.

Chalk another one up to 'reefer madness'. It's no wonder kids today don't
take anti-drug campaigns seriously when they're given misleading and false
information like this.

Timothy J. Meehan
Toronto, Ontario, Canada