Cannabis Warrior of the Month - Marisa Garcia

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In January 2000, 18-year-old Marisa Garcia was driving in Diamond Bar, California. A police officer searched her car at a gas station and found a pipe with marijuana residue in the glove compartment. Garcia received a ticket for marijuana possession.

Garcia was found guilty of misdemeanor marijuana possession in March 2000 and paid a $415 fine. Later that month, as Garcia completed her Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for her upcoming freshman year at California State University - Fullerton, she was forced to answer "yes" to Question 31, which asks if the applicant has ever been convicted of a drug offense.

Like nearly 10,000 other students that year who answered "yes" to Question 31 (or left it blank), Garcia was denied federal financial aid for one year. The federal law that cut her aid — the drug provision in the Higher Education Act of 1998 — allows for the successful completion of a drug rehabilitation course instead of a year without aid. But Garcia could not afford the expensive, in-patient treatment programs in her area, nor, as an occasional marijuana user, did she believe she had a marijuana problem that required treatment.

Garcia was able to find money for school by doubling the hours she worked at her part-time job, and her mother used credit cards and the equity in her home to cover the rest. Garcia is currently involved in the campaign to repeal the drug provision to the Higher Education Act. Learn more about this campaign at www.RaiseYourVoice.com.