Drug Policy - bad news (Katrina victims?!) and some good news

I signed up for newsletter emails at this site months ago, and just received an email the text of which you can see here :http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/112105federalupdate.cfm

I haven't fact-checked any of this, but there are a few intriguing points, and this Katrina victims blurb really blew me over:

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...our bill to suspend federal laws that prohibit Katrina victims with drug convictions from receiving public housing, food stamps, public assistance, and school loans now has 10 co-sponsors. We hope to move the bill in December or early next year. If you haven’t faxed your member of Congress in support of the bill, please do so today.
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I hope they don't mean that homeless natural disaster survivors were denied aid, or are, because they have had some drug violation. Damn, I really hope no survivor was denied emergency aid because of something like this, but doesn't it sound just like the bush machine?

Here's a little more, click on the link above to read it all:

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As you may recall, we identified six federal drug war programs that could be cut to save taxpayers a lot of money. After a lot of lobbying - and thousands of emails to members of Congress by supporters like you – Congress has cut these programs by $300 million. This is a tremendous savings! The Drug Czar will have $20 million less next year for those stupid anti-marijuana TV ads. States will have $185 million less for rogue drug war task forces that have caused problems from Tulia, Texas to Flint, Michigan. Other federal drug war bureaucracies will have about $100 million less.
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and...

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Unfortunately, we couldn’t take out a provision that applies an enhanced sentence of up to 20 years for making or selling methamphetamine in a household where a child resides. Though methamphetamine in the presence of children is a serious problem, this provision could devastate families by giving thousands of mothers long prison sentences when other options, such as treatment, are available. Even more unfortunately, Congress added the meth bill to the PATRIOT Act, making it virtually impossible to stop. Congress will vote on the PATRIOT Act sometime in December. We’re still lobbying to improve the bad provisions in it.
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so someone who has domestic violence convictions, for instance, is hunky-dory but a peaceful herb smoker is denied?

so would Scooter qualify with his Fed crimes? or Tom Delay?

access to public assistance programs.