BILL WOULD ALLOW AID FOR DRUG OFFENDERS

Measure Targets Storm Victims In Four States For A Three-Year Period

WASHINGTON - A group of House Democrats will unveil a plan today to
give Hurricane Katrina victims with prior drug convictions access to
federal benefits such as food stamps, public housing and student loans.

The Elimination of Barriers for Katrina Victims Act would suspend for
three years the restrictions that prevent drug offenders from getting
federal assistance. The bill applies to residents of Louisiana,
Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

"The bill does not affirm or support acts of crime, (but) it should
not be labeled or stigmatized," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of
Houston, one of the sponsors. "These are individuals who have lost
everything and to a great extent are victims."

Barring some displaced residents from federal aid opportunities, she
said, "only fosters a cycle of poverty."

Supporters predicted the legislation would help thousands of
displaced residents but conceded that the bill faces a tough fight in Congress.

"You can call it an uphill battle, but it's really just to help get
people back on their feet," said Ken Collins, the deputy director of
national affairs for the Washington-based Drug Policy Alliance.

Collins said the legislation arose from victims who complained to his
office that state and federal agencies denied aid because of their
criminal records.

The Louisiana Department of Social Services, which handles many
federal aid requests, could find no evidence of such instances,
according to a spokeswoman.

In Texas, though, some social service organizations have seen cases
involving Katrina evacuees with drug convictions being denied assistance.

Antoinette Samson, 31, a mother of three from New Orleans, said her
family cannot get housing or food stamps in Texas because her husband
served time for possession of crack cocaine. He was released in 2002.

The First Baptist Church in Denton is sheltering them for now, she
said, but the situation has left them with few long-term options.

"What is there to do?" she said. "I have no money, I don't even have a job."

In many cases, shutting former drug offenders out of federal aid
programs also pushes them back into crime, said Joyce Ann Brown, of
Mothers (Fathers) for the Advancement of Social Systems, an outreach
group for ex-prisoners. Worse, she said, the restrictions punish drug
offenders over more heinous criminals.